Jamie Nord

Since I am interested in antiquities and repatriation, the Society for American Archaeology scholarly journal in the Current Periodicals section of the library appealed to me.  I discovered a research article titled, “The Inuvialut Living History Project” that related to my research topic.  It appeared in the September 2012, Volume 12, Number 4 issue.  The contributing authors of the research article were Natasha Lyons, Kate Hennessy, Mervin Joe, Charles Arnold, Stephen Long, Albert Elias, and James Pokiak.  The article details the 2009 collaborative project between the Smithsonian Institution’s Artic Studies Center and the Inuvialuit indigenous community in the Canadian Western Arctic.  The team of anthropologists and museum officials sought a way to make the MacFarlane Collection of Inuvialuit ethnographic objects available to the tribe without physically returning them.  The collection was not “eligible for repatriation” under NAGPRA, since the community resides in Canada.  The cultural objects were acquired by Hudson Bay’s trader Roderick MacFarlane while operating a fur trade post in the 1860’s.  The team collected data of cultural knowledge, expert knowledge, and deeply held opinions and attitudes through in-depth interviews with Inuvialuit elders.  As a result of the process of this action research, the team launched a website www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca as a form of “digital repatriation.”  The article concedes that a limitation of this project culmination is that internet access is not universal.  However, the project included a trip for a few Inuvialuit community members to the Arctic Studies Center, so they were able to view and reconnect with their cultural objects.  The team expressed that they believed the outcome to be an overall success but reported another challenge was obtaining meaningful feedback from the Inuvialuit community.  I found the results of this research to be less than inspiring.  In my opinion, a “virtual exhibit” does not offer the same cultural significance or value in a community.  It is difficult to believe a  website could compensate for the lack of repatriation of their cultural objects.

Natasha Lyons, Kate Hennessy, Mervin Joe, Charles Arnold, Stephen Long, Albert Elias, and James Pokiak.  “The Inuvialut Living History Project.”  Society for American Archaeology.   September 2012, Volume 12, Number 4 issue.