Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Collab4Multi (Post-Repatriation: Collaborative Methodologies to Enhance Multivocality)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-09-15 bis 2025-04-14
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.
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.
To reach the first objective of the project—set up as 'to generate novel interpretations of the Nunalleq objects via artistic methodologies',—a series of art workshops was conducted at the Nunalleq Museum in Quinhagak. In the course of two field trips to Alaska, three workshops (3-4 days each) with Indigenous artists were arranged for the local community. The community decided on the themes of the workshops. The focus was kept on the traditional Yup’ik dance regalia masks: qaspeqs (Yup'ik garments) and dance fans:
workshop 1 with local artist Catherine Beebe (qaspeq-making workshop), August 1-3, 2023;
workshop 2 with renowned mask-maker Drew Michael (dance fans-making workshop), August 7-9, 2023;
workshop 3 with Yup'ik Elder Annie Don (dance fans-making workshop), August 10-13, 2024.
The goal of the art workshops was twofold: first, to understand the meaning of traditional Yup'ik objects in the past and, secondly, to learn how they are made and used in Yup’ik culture today. The experimental art workshops enabled hands-on encounters with archaeological heritage, building a bridge between the past and living Yup'ik culture. The workshops created an opportunity for Quinhagak residents to join in a dialogue about the Nunalleq archaeology and have their voices heard: artists and culture-bearers could share their knowledge, while younger members of the community could reflect on their learning journey and relate their experiences to (often evolving) understandings of their own Yup’ik identity today. Observations and interviews with the artists leading the workshop and some of the participants became an important part of the material culture analysis, meeting the second objective of the project—to critically analyse the re-socialisation of cultural heritage in/by the living community.
The achievements of the workshops were disseminated in multiple formats, including blog reports, demonstrations (traditional dance regalia created during the workshops were used in the performance of the Quinhagak dance group), educational videos, and academic papers. The videos, perhaps the most visible outcome of the workshops, were published on the fellow's public YouTube channel and archived in the Zenodo open repository. To make sure that the stories shared during these interviews and beyond are documented and brought into academic research, the publishable outcome of these workshops is co-written and co-authored with non-academic Indigenous research partners (the third initial objective of the project). The manuscript co-produced with two community members was submitted in 2024 (still under review).
Last but not least, thanks to the 6-month non-academic placement adjunct to the Collb4Multi project, the MSCA fellow was able to get trained in another decolonizing way of working with cultural heritage by co-curating an exhibition of repatriated Sámi heritage (the fourth initial objective of the project—'to apply expertise and methodologies in geographically, culturally, and institutionally different environments').
workshop 1 with local artist Catherine Beebe (qaspeq-making workshop), August 1-3, 2023;
workshop 2 with renowned mask-maker Drew Michael (dance fans-making workshop), August 7-9, 2023;
workshop 3 with Yup'ik Elder Annie Don (dance fans-making workshop), August 10-13, 2024.
The goal of the art workshops was twofold: first, to understand the meaning of traditional Yup'ik objects in the past and, secondly, to learn how they are made and used in Yup’ik culture today. The experimental art workshops enabled hands-on encounters with archaeological heritage, building a bridge between the past and living Yup'ik culture. The workshops created an opportunity for Quinhagak residents to join in a dialogue about the Nunalleq archaeology and have their voices heard: artists and culture-bearers could share their knowledge, while younger members of the community could reflect on their learning journey and relate their experiences to (often evolving) understandings of their own Yup’ik identity today. Observations and interviews with the artists leading the workshop and some of the participants became an important part of the material culture analysis, meeting the second objective of the project—to critically analyse the re-socialisation of cultural heritage in/by the living community.
The achievements of the workshops were disseminated in multiple formats, including blog reports, demonstrations (traditional dance regalia created during the workshops were used in the performance of the Quinhagak dance group), educational videos, and academic papers. The videos, perhaps the most visible outcome of the workshops, were published on the fellow's public YouTube channel and archived in the Zenodo open repository. To make sure that the stories shared during these interviews and beyond are documented and brought into academic research, the publishable outcome of these workshops is co-written and co-authored with non-academic Indigenous research partners (the third initial objective of the project). The manuscript co-produced with two community members was submitted in 2024 (still under review).
Last but not least, thanks to the 6-month non-academic placement adjunct to the Collb4Multi project, the MSCA fellow was able to get trained in another decolonizing way of working with cultural heritage by co-curating an exhibition of repatriated Sámi heritage (the fourth initial objective of the project—'to apply expertise and methodologies in geographically, culturally, and institutionally different environments').
The international and intersectoral transfer of knowledge between the Alaskan and Norwegian (post)repatriation initiatives can be considered as the most unique and impactful outcomes of this project. The work done within the project helped unfold the creative, educational, and therapeutic potential of cultural heritage in these two Arctic communities.