Culturescope.ca - Symposium 2007 Preserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical and Traditional Approaches, September 24

Symposium 2007 Preserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical and Traditional Approaches, September 24 - 28, 2007

The Canadian Cultural Observatory is pleased to present summaries from several of the sessions of last month’s Symposium 2007 Preserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical and Traditional Approaches, organized by the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI). Special thanks to Jacinthe Soulliere of the Research Unit at the Canada Council for the Arts for submitting this dispatch.

A complete list of conference speakers, their abstracts and biographies is available on the conference web site.

Monday, September 24, 2007, Plenary Session Theme: Mutual Learning, Respect, and Ethics

In Perspectives of an Elder/Curator on the Meaning of Heritage Objects and Why It Is Important to Preserve Objects and Care for Them in a Respectful Manner, Chief Stephen J. Augustine spoke of his research pertaining to his grandmother’s baskets held at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. He stressed the importance of the oral tradition and knowledge in Aboriginal culture as well as a code of ethics that exists when dealing with the conservation of cultural property.

Sherry Farrell Racette spoke of reconnecting items of material culture found in museum collections with their stories in Caring for the Living, not Embalming the Dead: Storied Objects and Precious Legacy in Museum Collections. She described the sterility of the environment within museum storerooms as de-contextualizing: “objects are suspended in space and time like an Elder waiting for someone to have tea with them.” Sherry outlined that through careful observation one can decipher the object’s process of creation and the scientific knowledge contained within it. This information and knowledge, she argued, in turn inspires generations of contemporary artists to come.

In a two-part presentation on conservation by John Moses and Miriam Clavir the subject of repatriation emerged. Many Aboriginal cultural objects have a spirit attached to them, thus, repartition to the community from where they originated would mean returning the spirit to its rightful place. Many museum collections contain sacred objects that were taken from gravesites and conservators must be aware of this and realize the importance in allowing the objects to be used in ceremony. Mr. Moses said that there are too few persons of Aboriginal heritage working in the field of conservation.

In Conservation and the Four Values of the Lakota, Steven A. Tamayo, Kim Cullen Cobb, and Anna Hodson, from the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), described their experience of learning how to brain-tan a buffalo hide. They stressed the importance of understanding Lakota values and cultural beliefs as well as the need to retain knowledge pertaining to the creation of cultural objects, not solely their conservation.

Vivian Grey spoke about the living art collection at the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC). She explained the process of collecting art in collaboration with living artists and how the collection represents the reality of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. Ann Smith, a Tutchone/Tlingit artist from the Yukon, expressed her gratitude for always being able to borrow works from the collection for ceremonial use; the use of these objects in ceremony preserves the songs, dances and histories to which they belong thus creating a ‘living culture’ within each object.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007, Concurrent Session #2
Theme: Conservation in the Community

Tom Hill outlined the history of the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario and his involvement within the institution over the past twenty years as Museum Director. Hill spoke of the building in which the museum is held, an old residential school, and the issues that have arisen because of this. The Cultural Centre is a resource for Native people and a facilitator in the reconciliation of issues that have arisen within the community.

Collaborative Partnerships Between Native Museums and Cultural Centers: A Case Study from the Northeastern United States by Kimberly Hatcher-White, Meredith Laine Vasta and Douglas Currie, outlined the results of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (MPMRC)’s 2-year IMLS National Leadership Grant. The project created a partnership between Native museums and cultural centers in the Northeastern United States and provided a framework in which employees could communicate and share with one another.

Gerald Gloade and Shannon Googoo’s presentation entitled Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre: Cultural Memory Timeline Embedded in the Mi’kmaq Legends of Kluskapi outlined the research that has been done, and is still ongoing, concerning the creation of the Mi'kmawey Debert Cultural Centre. The research into Mi'kmaq history and culture will aid in the presentation of the story of what life was like for the First People in Nova Scotia over 11,000 years ago; research is fundamental to the development new museums or centres to display cultural objects and information.

Thursday, September 27, 2007, Plenary Session
Theme: Enhancing Capacity

The main theme that emerged at the conference was the need and desire to enhance capacity and reunite objects with their stories, cultures and histories. This theme was re-enforced in the final presentation, Native Voice and the Transformation of the Intellectual Landscape. Presenter, Gerald McMaster, outlined how the presence of the Native voice has shaped every exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and led to new perspectives as well as the empowerment of the peoples represented in the exhibitions.

- Jacinthe Soulliere, Junior Research Officer, Canada Council for the Arts

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Symposium 2007 Preserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical and Traditional Approaches, September 24 - 28, 2007

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