Research as Reparations
“One still unresolved aspect of North American colonization arises out of the mass expropriation of Indigenous peoples’ cultural expressions to European-settler institutions and their publics. Researchers, artists, entrepreneurs, missionaries, and many others worked in partnership with major universities, museums, corporations, foundations, and other institutions to capture and exploit Indigenous cultural creativity, often in violation of Indigenous peoples’ laws, protocols, and standards of care. Much of this cultural material remains in Institutional repositories today, where it has been treated as the raw material for settler research, creativity, and innovation, circulating outside the control of the Indigenous communities who created it.” – Trevor Reed, “Restorative Justice for Indigenous Culture” UCLA Law Review, Vol. 70, No. 2, 2023.
How can research be an act of restorative justice?
How can it be reparative for those that have been harmed by exploitative research practices?
How can we help each other onto that path?
Your Neighborhood Museum is exploring these questions and collaborating with others to consider what it takes for us to do research that prioritizes the needs and interests of our communities. We are interested in research that is community-led, useful, and facilitates action; research that utilizes methods that are just, restorative, and empowering for the communities that direct it.
Research as Reparations is an emerging program for Your Neighborhood Museum. Check out the links below for projects currently in the works and come back again because there’s more to come!
Repatriation Meets the Protocols Workbook
The aim of this project was to examine the potential intersecting activities between the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) policies and Protocols for Native American Archival Materials (PNAAM) guidelines to develop a practical resource for entities working with archives as part of their repatriation efforts. These entities include, but are not limited to, Native American and Indigenous communities, archivists, librarians, museum professionals, repatriation officers, and archaeologists. The RMP Workbook is also intended to serve as a solid start to a living document that will continually progress and evolve.