For over two decades, I have been involved in the excavation, collection, analysis, organization, conservation, and interpretation of ‘Canadian’ Indigenous Cultural Heritage. Commonly described as artifacts and ecofacts by archaeologists, ancestral belongings and material culture items recovered from the ground’s surface or below it, are deeply connected to contemporary Indigenous ways of being and knowing. Community heritage institutions do not always reflect this cultural continuity and dynamism in their exhibitions, programs, and discussions of the Indigenous communities within whose traditional unceded territories they are situated. We must all work together to move forward in a good way to eliminate this disconnection, to be more mindful of how we collect, handle, interpret, and store Indigenous Cultural Heritage (both tangible and intangible), and to be more transparent about the ‘collections’ that we hold in trust for all of our community members.
My archaeological career has included stints with academic institutions, in the private sector, in community museums, and most recently, with Indigenous organizations. The care, analysis, and interpretation of ‘collections’ of Indigenous Cultural Heritage is the common thread between all of these opportunities. Here I share some insights gained through my recent work with several community museums in British Columbia.