The project Collab4Multi, conducted at the intersection of archaeology, anthropology, and museology, was designed to advance decolonizing methodologies in the field of Indigenous cultural heritage, especially in matters related to its repatriation (i.e. return to and reinstallation in the communities of origin). The research programme of the project adhered to Indigenous knowledge and rested on collaborative methodologies, nurturing long-term commitments, caring relationships, emotional investments, and shared responsibilities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous research partners. Acknowledging the gap in the previous research on repatriation, this project investigated how Indigenous communities, which were deprived of access to their material cultural heritage due to various colonial endeavors, can not only return the collections to the places of their origin but also reclaim their significance for modern communities through culturally-appropriate practices.
The project had the main field site—the Yup'ik community of Quinhagak in southwest Alaska and its locally-run Nunalleq Museum, which houses the largest collection of Yup’ik material culture. The collection was produced as a result of a large-scale archaeological excavation project initiated by the community in 2009. The site called Nunalleq (1400–1675 AD), as many other archaeological sites in the Arctic, was locked in permafrost for over five centuries, but started thawing rapidly due to climate change. The Collab4Multi project enabled experimental research and a thorough engagement of the Quinhagak community with this living archaeological heritage. The main methodological tools Collab4Multi employed were art workshops, semi-structured interviews, and collaborative writing sessions.
Following its original objectives, the project was conducted with the involvement of Indigenous culture bearers (individuals who practice and carry their culture forward), with the focus on non-conventional tradition keepers, such as Indigenous artists and youth. In Quinhagak, Indigenous research partners on this project were Yup'ik artists (30+) and culture bearers of different ages (from 11 to 60+). Indigenous participants of the project were not the subject of the study but were treated as non-academic research partners and co-authors of research outcomes. All of them have given their consent not to be anonymised so they could be credited by name for their thoughts and shared experiences, having full ownership of the stories they shared. That was crucial to the main methodological objective of the project—to attribute authorship to Indigenous research partners for their contributions, decolonising archaeological/anthropological research practice that in the past deprived many Indigenous people of their voice and right to narrate their own history. Research papers to be published as outcomes of this research project are co-authored with Indigenous collaborators.
At the end of the fellowship, the decolonizing and collaborative work of the project was continued at a non-academic placement with another community-run museum—RiddoDuottarMuseat (the Sámi Museum) in Finnmark, Norway. The MSCA fellow had a chance to co-curate an exhibition of repatriated Sámi heritage, putting her skills and knowledge into practice outside of academia.
