This is our life : Haida material heritage and changing museum practice Cover Image

Book

This is our life : Haida material heritage and changing museum practice / Cara Krmpotich, Laura Peers ; with the Haida Repatriation Committee and staff of the Pitt Rivers Museum and British Museum.

Krmpotich, Cara Ann, 1978- (author.). Peers, Laura L. (Laura Lynn), (author.).

Summary:

"In September 2009, twenty-one members of the Haida Nation came to Oxford and London to work with several hundred heritage treasures at the Pitt Rivers Museum and the British Museum. The encounter set a new course for the relationships between the custodians of these cultural artifacts and the indigenous people for whom the objects are a direct link to their past. Emotional and illuminating, tense and challenging, it was a transformative visit that none would soon forget. Featuring contributions from Haida people -- weavers, carvers, language speakers, youth, and Elders -- and museum staff -- curators, conservators, and collections management staff -- who participated in the project, and a rich selection of illustrations, This Is Our Life details the remarkable story of the Haida Project, from the planning to the visit itself and through the years that followed. A fascinating look at the meaning behind objects, the value of repatriation, and the impact of historical trajectories like colonialism, this is also a tender story of the understanding that grew between the Haida visitors and museum staff, as conflicting ideas about subjects as difficult as the repatriation of human remains and the white-gloved institutional approach to handling historical objects became a two-way dialogue."--Publisher's website.

Record details

ISBN: 9780774825405
ISBN: 0774825405
ISBN: 9780774825412
ISBN: 0774825413
Physical Description: xix, 292 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Publisher: Vancouver, BC ; UBC Press, [2013]
Copyright: ©2013

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 266-279) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	The paths bringing us together -- Preparations for the visit -- Moments of encounter -- Why go there? : an interlude / Ruth Gladstone-Davies -- Reflecting on the visit -- Maintaining relationships into the future -- Museums as they are, and museums as they might be -- Appendix : Conservation kits.