AIC 53rd Annual Meeting

For centuries, museums have been the accepted authority on Indigenous cultural materials and have acquired and amassed indigenous cultural items for their own use and benefit with minimal consideration from source communities. This structure is built on the foundation of colonization that show the public a version of history that is often disconnected from descendant communities and Indigenous ways of knowing. Further, the heart of every museum is its collections, which are expressed through avenues of conservation, stewardship, education, exhibition, and research. The values expressed in museum collections stewardship resonate throughout an entire institution and set the tone for how an institution operates.  

In 2021, the Indigenous Collections Care (ICC) working group was established to advocate for approaches that privilege Indigenous knowledge and respect and recenter concepts of culturally appropriate care for items in museum collections. These conversations transpired to the creation of the ICC guide, with its members consisting of diverse backgrounds, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous museum and academic professionals, tribal historic preservation officers, collections staff, and NAGPRA coordinators. The ICC guide is rooted in Indigenous perspectives and priorities, as well as practical applications. The document will not instruct museums on how to specifically care for each item, since protocols vary among communities, but will offer scalable considerations of culturally appropriate collections stewardship, with questions and talking points to address during a consultation, and with templates and case studies for use in implementation, advocacy, and the creation of policies and procedures. 

In dialogue with the conference theme, this paper focuses on years of collaboration between indigenous and non-indigenous museum collection professionals and source communities to develop the Indigenous Collections Care (ICC) guide. The development of the ICC guide is currently funded through an IMLS National Leadership Grant for Museums, under the School for Advanced Research (SAR). The guide will be available by 2026 and will be a free reference tool for preventive conservation and collection professionals that interact regularly with indigenous collections. Overall, the museum field has expressed a need for this resource. In a recent survey conducted by the Indigenous Collections Care (ICC) working group, 84% of collections professionals from a range of art, history, archaeology, historic preservation, and university backgrounds said an ICC guide would be highly beneficial to their institution. 

Museums can be places where ancestral connections are reawakened and relationships are built that create space where diverse Indigenous cultures and values are lived, protected, and respected.  The aim of conservation is the preservation of cultural heritage for future generations and should emphasize the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own cultural traditions. In conclusion, reaching a larger museum audience in the conservation community, the presenters will discuss some of the foundational concepts of the ICC guide's content, and the process of the collaborative review sessions. Attendees will understand the value of culturally appropriate care, how the values expressed in collections and conservation stewardship resonate throughout an entire institution, and a pathway of how to incorporate these values into their daily work.