Decolonizing the San Diego Museum of ManMichael Connolly, Guest CuratorBen Garcia, Deputy DirectorLael Hoff, Collections ManagerKelly Hyberger, Director of CollectionsGeorge Ramirez, Board Chair

What is decolonization?

Colonization: a process by which• Indigenous lands,

bodies, and possessions were appropriated by settlers for their own use.

• Indigenous beliefs, language and cultural practices were suppressed and criminalized.

Decolonization can be broadly defined as the process of reversing colonialism, politically and culturally.

Decolonization in a museum context means inviting representatives of descendant communities to engage with collections and other aspects of the museum’s function as true partners.

Reversing colonialism means sharing authority with (and sometimes ceding authority to) descendant communities.

A decolonized SDMoM will do at least three things:Bring Indigenous perspective and voice into decision-making at all levels of the organization through consultation, and with staff and board appointments.

Address the history and legacy of colonialism in the Museum (and broadly) in its policies and programs.

Include the work and perspective of Indigenous artists, historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, and other content experts.

Decolonization impacts all areas of the Museum: Collections Exhibits and Programs Operations Strategic Planning Governance Development Communication

Why decolonize?

“The bodies and beliefs of the Indian peoples of the Western Hemisphere, along with their possessions and their lands, were plundered and debased. And a substantial portion of the American Indian collections [held] in museums is made up of that tainted bounty.” - Craig Howe “The Morality of Exhibiting Indians” in Embedding Ethics: Shifting the Boundaries of the Anthropological Profession , 2005

 

Why? Our history and collections:Anthropology Museums have a unique relationship to this issue.

We hold collections with unmeasurable cultural value to indigenous communities.

We hold human remains.

What this looks like at other museums

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, CO; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC; Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, ME

Peabody Essex Museum

Salem, MA• CEO was a drafter of

NAGPRA• Native American art

residencies• 12-week paid

fellowship for emerging Native American museum professionals

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Denver, CO

• Reburial of 20 individuals from Museum’s collections.

• No curation of human remains without the consent of the individual, next of kin, or community.

Minnesota Historical Society

Mille Lacs Indian Museum

Onamia, MN• Partnership between

the Minnesota Historical Society and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

• Both groups worked together to select a location, an architectural firm, and the content of the exhibits.

Portland Art Museum

Portland, OR

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• Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art opened in 2015. 

• Museum’s first Native American curator

• Native advisory council• Co-curated with Native

artists• $150K IMLS Community

Anchors grant awarded in 2014

Museum of Anthropology

Vancouver, BC

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• Reciprocal Research Network

Musqueam Indian Band; U'mista Cultural Society; Stó:lō Nation; Stó:lō Tribal Council; MOA• Collections staff

practices subject to best cultural practice

What this looks like at SDMoM today

Decolonization is situated in all Museum functionsCollections: Coastal Indian repatriations (Feb. 27); 50+ new individuals found in collections to date; photo and sound digitization procedures; Kumeyaay staff member and 2 interns; retreat and discussion of decolonization.

Operations: Casts of human remains no longer used as decoration, all-staff trainings on NAGPRA and decolonization.

Governance: Collections Committee central to NAGPRA conversations; has begun to explore questions of display of human remains.

Decolonization is situated in all Museum functionsStrategic planning: three Kumeyaay participants in charrettes.

Exhibits: Naka Shin astronomy exhibit.Programs and events: December NightsAdvocacy: Presentations at conferences and attendance at convenings.

What Decolonization looks like at SDMoM todayCollections: NAGPRA; Kumeyaay ancestral repatriations

Exhibits and Programs: Kumeyaay curation of Kumeyaay story; co-creation of school programs and space for Kumeyaay programs (Dec. nights)

Governance: Considering a Policy on Curation of Human Remains

Policy on the Curation of Human Remains

SDMoM will only accession and/or curate human remains when express written permission is given to do so by the deceased individual, their next of kin, or an authorized designee of the descendant community, and when those remains can be used to tell appropriate and compelling stories in support of the Museum’s interpretive goals. SDMoM may curate human remains without the express written permission of the descendant community, in cases where that community can be shown to broadly support similar curatorial activity for human remains.

How does this change from what we are already doing?

Moving Beyond NAGPRAThe Museum is already committed to being in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. We will now work to accommodate all legitimate requests for the repatriation of human remains from communities that fall outside of NAGPRA’s purview.

Consent for Research, Curation, and DisplayFor human remains where the deceased individual, next of kin or descendant community has approved their use for research or display, SDMoM will evaluate their applicability for a programmatic function and will either continue to steward the remains, or deaccession them according to our policy.

Spiritual and Cultural Care Access to human remains will be given to spiritual or religious practitioners so that they may provide care to the remains of their ancestors.

What happens when there is no next of kin or descendant community to help determine how we should steward an individual’s remains?

In the case of culturally and/or geographically unidentifiable human remains, the Museum will steward these individuals in a manner that reflects standard contemporary, local and non-denominational practices of memorialization.

This may include continuing to hold the remains in a memorialization context or deaccessioning them for burial and/or cremation.

Decisions about the ultimate disposition of these remains will be made in consultation with a local advisory body of funerary practitioners representing a variety of local religious and secular perspectives.

What does this mean for our institution and our collections?

1. ConversationsSDMoM will have conversations with next of kin or descendant communities about how to most appropriately steward their ancestral human remains.

2. Consent The Museum of Man will only steward human remains with the consent of the individual, next of kin, or descendant communities. This will hold our institution to the highest ethical standard for the curation of human remains.

Opportunities and Challenges

Opportunity Challenge Relationships with descendant

communities will transform New visitors/stakeholders Alignment with field Leadership position/Reputational

yield Updated content Funding opportunities

Difficult conversations - like those we see with RACE

Loss of visitors Stakeholder alienation Donors may worry, fewer

collections may be offered to us Loss of data Requires resources

Does Decolonization Apply to your Museum?

Do you have Native American and/or Indigenous collections?

Do you have archaeological specimens? Do you conduct archaeological excavations? Are you a general history museum? Are you an anthropology/archaeology-focused

museum? Do you have an exhibit(s) about Native American

or other Indigenous topics? Do you offer educational programs about Native

Americans or other Indigenous descendant communities?

Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, Abbe Museum

Our PathwayAdapted from the Abbe Museum

Phase 1: Develop AwarenessResearch/readingConduct conversations within departmentsAsk stakeholders what decolonization means to themForm advisory groups as applicableCreate a guiding document/philosophyPhase 2: Create Strategy Prioritize areas for change and create strategy for each areaIdentify possible roadblocks and solutions

One PathwayAdapted from the Abbe Museum

Phase 3: Implement ChangesEstablish timelines and work plansCreate policies (gain highest level of buy-in possible) and procedures (all staff can weigh in for their area)Create communications strategyPhase 4: Maintain and ImproveCreate feedback loopsProvide training to new staff and trusteesOngoing training will be required as with any ongoing aspect of the museum’s function

Phases may not be sequential!!