Displaying truth and reconciliation: experiences of engagement between Alberni Indian Residential School survivors and museum professionals curating the Canadian History Hall
Date
2018-09-07
Authors
Clements, Bradley A.
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Abstract
The re-curated Canadian History Hall (CHH) opened at the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) in Gatineau, Québec, on July 1st, 2017, becoming the first Canadian national narrative to exhibit the history, experiences, and aftermath of Canada’s genocidal Indian Residential School (IRS) system. Through interviews and participant observation, this case study considers experiences of CHH curatorial engagements between Alberni IRS Survivors and museum professionals. Their experiences illustrate practical challenges, structural limitations, and complementary interests of Western museums and Indigenous source communities attempting to collaboratively curate difficult history. Despite having limited capacities for indigenization or decolonization, this thesis demonstrates that museums like the CMH can be complicated but beneficial partners for some Indigenous source communities and their anti-colonial engagements with Canadian society.
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Museum exhibits, National museums, Curators, Canadian Museum of History, Canadian History Hall, Indian Residential Schools, Alberni Indian Residential School, Collaborative curation, Exhibit case study, Children's art, Canadian heritage