AIC 53rd Annual Meeting

The vision and mission of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) includes collaboration and partnership to realize equity, empowerment and social justice for Native peoples across the Western Hemisphere. Since the founding of the NMAI, the conservation team has worked with artists and communities to care for cultural heritage. Through decades of building and maintaining these relationships, we have witnessed the benefits to our constituency, the collection items, and our staff. Our ability to be effective collaborators is ever evolving. We’ve learned how collaboration is a relational practice encompassing critical elements, such as building trust, recognizing truth, providing access, acknowledging power dynamics, following through, and ultimately preserving what is valued. These elements of effective collaboration are even more important today considering the Smithsonian Institution’s recently adopted Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns Policy. The policy formalizes relationships between institutions and their constituencies; therefore, the success of its implementation hinges on the strength of these partnerships.   

In order to achieve partnership equity, it is vital to operate in service to the collective goal, prioritizing the group’s objectives over individual agendas. Trust serves as the foundation for any collaborative endeavor and is built on consistent and transparent communication, reliability, and mutual respect. Humility, equitable power dynamic among all stakeholders, as well as truth recognition and an understanding of historical facts and present realities are essential. Power dynamics play a significant role in collaboration; balancing power among stakeholders ensures equitable participation. Access to relevant resources and open information sharing ensures well-informed decision making. Commitment follow-through and continuity are critical to maintaining trust, demonstrating reliability and sustainably supporting long-term impact. Preserving what is valued identifies and safeguards core principles, traditions, and goals essential to the collective identity and purpose of the collaboration. 

 This presentation will include an overview of the elements of collaboration as they have developed through decades of long-term partnerships between the NMAI and indigenous partners and colleagues, building relationship along the way. This presentation will also discuss how effective collaboration continues to be shaped by the Shared Stewardship and Ethical Return policy as implemented by the NMAI and sister museums in the Smithsonian family. This presentation establishes a base for the concurrent general session submission: “NMAI Collaborative Relationships: A Focused and Critical Look” which evaluates specific examples of collaborative partnerships with various communities and colleagues across the Western hemisphere.