Transforming Policy and Museum Practices: Decolonizing Frameworks and UNDRIP in Canada

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ideas, Ethical Ideals, and Museum Practice in North American Archaeological Collections" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Canadian Museum of History, a national collecting institution dating back to the mid-1980s, has undergone many transformations throughout its history, including to its name, mandate, and location. This presentation will outline how community collaboration and collections access has transformed in response to changing ethical, legal and policy frameworks at Museum and in Canada. While the Museum has a 50-year history of collaboration with communities and repatriation, it continues to grapple with the implications of its 150-year legacy and the colonialism embedded in its collecting practices. Recent policy transformations will be shared to show how the museum is working to incorporate decolonizing frameworks into its day-to-day operations. This work goes beyond a repatriation policy and legal obligations, to a reconsideration of the way that research, collections access, collections management, and programming is developed. It will show how the interconnected work of policy, strategic direction, and changes in the national governance of Indigenous cultural heritage (Bill C-15, UNDRIP and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission) are shaping museum practices in the present and for the future.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ideas, Ethical Ideals, and Museum Practice in North American Archaeological Collections   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39078.0