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Published: March 1999.
On Repatriation and Representations of First Nations Cultures in a Digital Environment.
M. Sam Cronk , University of Michigan, USASession: Whose Story Is It?
This is a compelling moment for all of us engaged in cultural education and outreach through online multimedia. As an ethnologist and museum professional, I find the myriad of digital resources featuring Native American culture to be incredibly encouraging. Yet the sheer volume of information and apparent ease of accessibility underscores our need to reconsider familiar and occasionally contentious issues of ownership, authority, accuracy and cultural representation, appropriation and intellectual property rights in the digital environments we create. At CHICO (Cultural Heritage Initiative for Community Outreach), negotiating these complex issues has proved both challenging and rewarding for several ongoing projects. I'll focus this discussion on websites developed cooperatively with Great Lakes and Alaskan communities. The broader questions raised, however, are relevant to any museum with ethnographic collections establishing cross cultural partnerships.
URLs:
American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation http://www.repatriationfoundation.org/new.html
"Hastings Amendment" to NAGPRA http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2893
NAGPRA http://www.cr.nps.gov/aad/nagpra.htm
NAGPRA http://www.swf.usace.army.mil/links/ENViron/cultural/nagpra/index.html
A Line in the Sand http://www.hanksville.org/sand/
Cultural Heritage Initiatives and Community Outreach (CHICO) http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/