Seeding Authority Continued

Seeding Authority Continued

After our initial symposium, we’ve organized other events to continue the conversation on museum decolonization. Here’s just a few. 

“Seeding Authority: A Roundtable Discussion on Decolonizing Initiatives at Four Institutions”

Western Museum Association Annual Meeting 

Boise, ID, October 2019 

Presenter(s):

Teresa Valencia, Director of Curation and Education, ‘Iolani Palace

Kamalu du Preez, Assistant Collections Manager, Ethnology Department, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum

Brandie MacDonald, Director of Decolonizing Initiatives, San Diego Museum of Man

Noelle M.K.Y. Kahanu, Assistant Specialist, Public Humanities and Native Hawaiian Programs, University of Hawaiëi at Manoa

Karen K. Kosasa (Moderator), Director of the Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Inspired by a recent decolonizing symposium in Hawaii, this session explores what happens when museums shift from “ceding” to “seeding” authority and view indigenous relations as acts that are generative rather than reductive. Staff from ‘Iolani Palace, Bishop Museum, San Diego Museum of Man, and UH Manoa share their experiences ranging from board dynamics to implementing decolonial policies to addressing historical harm as they sow seeds for a new future between museums and indigenous communities.

“Seeding Authority: Continuing the Conversation on Decolonizing the Museum” 

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum

November 7, 2019

Presenters:

Amy Lonetree, Associate Professor of History, University of California – Santa Cruz

Ben Garcia, Deputy Director and Chief Learning Officer, Ohio History Connection

Noelle Kahanu, Assistant Specialist of Public Humanities and Native Hawaiian Programs

Over 50 community members, scholars, and museum professionals joined us to engage in conversation around the many ways in which museums are responding to national and global calls to decolonize. The main question driving the conversation was what factors are encouraging museums to move from ceding authority to seeding authority?

“Seeding Authority: Decolonizing the Museum”

American Studies Association Annual Conference 

Honolulu, HI, November 7, 2019

Presenters:

Karen Kosasa, Director of the Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Amy Lonetree, Associate Professor of History, University of California – Santa Cruz

Ben Garcia, Deputy Director and Chief Learning Officer, Ohio History Connection

Leah Pualahaʻole Caldeira, Director of Library and Archives, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum

Halealoha Ayau, Repatriation Advocate, Hui Mālama i Nā Kūpuna o Hawaiʻi Nei

Noelle Kahanu, Assistant Specialist of Public Humanities and Native Hawaiian Programs

Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, Graduate Assistant of the Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

In November 2018, two events in Honolulu provided an opportunity to address systemic problems: “Seeding Authority: A Symposium on Decolonizing the Museum” and “Decolonizing Collections,” a workshop. These events, organized by Museum Studies/American Studies at UHM, brought together students, faculty, museum professionals, and community members. Led by prominent scholars and professionals actively engaged in both the underpinning theories and practical realities of decolonization projects, attendees found the presentations immensely helpful despite the fraught and controversial contents. One presenter frankly admitted that his museum housed the “trophies of genocide and colonization,” while a repatriation specialist accused museums of “intellectual savagery.” A prominent Native scholar urged museums to provide safe spaces for Native communities to engage in “truth telling” about their colonial experiences. Two staff members from the San Diego Museum of Man (SDMoM) presented a “colonial pathways” policy. This unique document mandates a review of the “pathway” every object followed to enter the institution’s collection. Ultimately, this process should assist the museum staff to determine where the object rightfully or ethically belongs. In other words, SDMoM, in consultation with source communities (whenever possible), is prepared to return an object to its original home. Finally, a Kanaka Maoli repatriation advocate described the collaborative work of many people that resulted in the successful return of ancestral remains from a German museum after 26 years.

Participants on this ASA roundtable described their contributions to either or both events and explain the challenges they face as they move forward locally, regionally, and internationally to advance the November conversations to the next level.

HPR Coverage: “Indigenous Authority Over Museum Objects Could Be the Future”