As referenced in the Truth and Reconciliation’s call to action, museums and archives play a critical role in telling Canadian and Indigenous history, which has not always been accurately told in this country. To do this, museums and archives need to authentically represent the Indigenous voice in museum and archive spaces. In this series, we intend to intersect with Indigenous knowledge and explore Indigenous recommendations and current Indigenous practice used in museums and archives. This series is supported by a grant from the BC Museums Association, which presents the opportunity to focus on synergies and intersections of museums and archives. Presenters include professionals with expertise and interest in museums and archives. The first two sessions provide shared concepts and stories for exploring these themes, while the third event is more interactive.
The goal of these events is to be a starting point of dialogue for museum professionals to ask and consider how to reflect Indigenous experiences, worldviews, culture, interpretations, and inherent ways of knowing more accurately in a museum setting. About Part 1 of this webinar series: This webinar will provide input into what it means to “decolonize museums” from an academic and museum perspective. This panelist session with represent perspective rather than concrete answers. Questions that will be handled are: how do museums portray exclusion? What are steps museums must take to confront a colonial structure and systematic racism? How have museums pondered history of colonial appropriation and cultural restitution?
Part 3
Thursday, November 18, 2021
10–11:30 am (PST)
About: The final webinar of this series will review the previous sessions in an open discussion and call in experts to answer participant questions.
Speakers
Melissa Adams
Librarian and Archivist | Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Melissa Adams is the Librarian and Archivist at the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). She is a member of the Nisga’a Nation from the House of Wisin Xbil’tkw of the Gisk’aast (Killerwhale) tribe. Her education background includes History, First Nations Studies and Archival Studies, and she completed the Aboriginal Training Program in Museum Practices at the Canadian Museum of History. She has previously worked at government, religious, educational and private libraries and archives.
Genevieve Hill
Collections Manager, BC Archaeology Collections | Royal BC Museum
Genevieve earned a BA in Greek and Roman Studies and Anthropology from the University of Victoria, and an MA and PhD in Archaeology from the University of Exeter, UK. Over the past 20 years she has worked on cultural sites throughout the south coast of BC, the UK, Greece, and Turkey as an academic and professional archaeologist. She is currently the BC Archaeology Collection Manager and Researcher in the Indigenous Collection and Repatriation Department at the Royal BC Museum. In this role she cares for cultural belongings recovered from archaeological contexts and facilitates the repatriation of cultural belongings and Ancestors to their descendent communities.
Genevieve Weber, MAS
Acting Head of Archives | Royal BC Museum
Genevieve Weber has been an outreach archivist and community liaison with the BC Archives since 2016. She has the privilege of working with Indigenous communities from all over the province, assisting with research requests, providing access to records, and facilitating workshops on topics such as researching community history and Indigenous genealogy. Other programs delivered include family history workshops, special interest workshops, community tours, introductory class visits, and school activities. She is passionate about engaging people of all ages with the archives, and enjoys public speaking.
Jordan Wilson
PhD Student, New York University | Independent curator
Jordan Wilson is an emerging curator and writer and is currently a PhD student in Anthropology at New York University. He is a member of the Musqueam First Nation. Prior to starting graduate studies, Wilson was a Curatorial Intern at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (2017-2018). He holds an MA in Anthropology (with a focus on critical museum studies) and a BA in First Nations Studies (now First Nations and Indigenous Studies), both obtained at the University of British Columbia. Wilson was a co-curator of the exhibits cəsnaʔəm, the city before the city (2015) and In a Different Light: Reflecting on Northwest Coast Art (2017) at the UBC Museum of Anthropology.
Part 2
Thursday, October 28, 2021
10–11:30 am (PST)
About: This webinar will examine the ideology of decolonization as a current movement in museums and archives. This webinar will reflect more on the current activities surrounding decolonizing museums and archives today rather than providing concrete answers. i.e. what are some dialogues relating to decolonizing? Ideologies? Professional insight? What have been some of the most important and impactful changes in decolonizing museums to date? How do the panelists position themselves in this topic and any other relative insights they might have?
Speakers
Melissa Adams
Librarian and Archivist | Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Melissa Adams is the Librarian and Archivist at the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). She is a member of the Nisga’a Nation from the House of Wisin Xbil’tkw of the Gisk’aast (Killerwhale) tribe. Her education background includes History, First Nations Studies and Archival Studies, and she completed the Aboriginal Training Program in Museum Practices at the Canadian Museum of History. She has previously worked at government, religious, educational and private libraries and archives.
Genevieve Weber, MAS
Acting Head of Archives | Royal BC Museum
Genevieve Weber has been an outreach archivist and community liaison with the BC Archives since 2016. She has the privilege of working with Indigenous communities from all over the province, assisting with research requests, providing access to records, and facilitating workshops on topics such as researching community history and Indigenous genealogy. Other programs delivered include family history workshops, special interest workshops, community tours, introductory class visits, and school activities. She is passionate about engaging people of all ages with the archives, and enjoys public speaking.
Jordan Wilson
PhD Student, New York University | Independent curator
Jordan Wilson is an emerging curator and writer and is currently a PhD student in Anthropology at New York University. He is a member of the Musqueam First Nation. Prior to starting graduate studies, Wilson was a Curatorial Intern at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (2017-2018). He holds an MA in Anthropology (with a focus on critical museum studies) and a BA in First Nations Studies (now First Nations and Indigenous Studies), both obtained at the University of British Columbia. Wilson was a co-curator of the exhibits cəsnaʔəm, the city before the city (2015) and In a Different Light: Reflecting on Northwest Coast Art (2017) at the UBC Museum of Anthropology.
Part 1
Thursday, October 14, 2021
10–11:30 am (PST)
About: This webinar provides input into what it means to “decolonize museums” from an academic and museum perspective. This panelist session with represent perspectives rather than concrete answers. Questions that will be handled are: How do museums portray exclusion? What are steps museums must take to confront a colonial structure and systematic racism? How have museums pondered history of colonial appropriation and cultural restitution?
Speakers
Melissa Adams
Librarian and Archivist | Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Melissa Adams is the Librarian and Archivist at the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). She is a member of the Nisga’a Nation from the House of Wisin Xbil’tkw of the Gisk’aast (Killerwhale) tribe. Her education background includes History, First Nations Studies and Archival Studies, and she completed the Aboriginal Training Program in Museum Practices at the Canadian Museum of History. She has previously worked at government, religious, educational and private libraries and archives.
Erica Hernández-Read
Head, Archives & Special Collections | University of Northern British Columbia
Erica Hernández-Read is Head of the Northern BC Archives & Special Collections at the University of Northern British Columbia. She holds a Master’s degree in Archival Studies from the University of British Columbia and for the past 20 years has focused her work on a participatory and community-archiving approach to knowledge building. Erica is co-Chair of the Response to the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce, member of the Indigitization Program Steering Committee, and President of the Association of Canadian Archivists (2021-23).
Genevieve Hill
Collections Manager, BC Archaeology Collections | Royal BC Museum
Genevieve earned a BA in Greek and Roman Studies and Anthropology from the University of Victoria, and an MA and PhD in Archaeology from the University of Exeter, UK. Over the past 20 years she has worked on cultural sites throughout the south coast of BC, the UK, Greece, and Turkey as an academic and professional archaeologist. She is currently the BC Archaeology Collection Manager and Researcher in the Indigenous Collection and Repatriation Department at the Royal BC Museum. In this role she cares for cultural belongings recovered from archaeological contexts and facilitates the repatriation of cultural belongings and Ancestors to their descendent communities.
Jordan Wilson
PhD Student, New York University | Independent curator
Jordan Wilson is an emerging curator and writer and is currently a PhD student in Anthropology at New York University. He is a member of the Musqueam First Nation. Prior to starting graduate studies, Wilson was a Curatorial Intern at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (2017-2018). He holds an MA in Anthropology (with a focus on critical museum studies) and a BA in First Nations Studies (now First Nations and Indigenous Studies), both obtained at the University of British Columbia. Wilson was a co-curator of the exhibits cəsnaʔəm, the city before the city (2015) and In a Different Light: Reflecting on Northwest Coast Art (2017) at the UBC Museum of Anthropology.