Workshop: Digital Repatriation and the Circulation of Indigenous Knowledge

Washington State University, Pullman WA

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Kimberly Christen (Washington State University), Dr. Joshua A. Bell (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution), and Dr. Mark Turin (University of Cambridge and Yale University) will convene an international workshop on the impact of digital repatriation on knowledge creation, revitalization, and distribution within Indigenous communities. Digital repatriation refers to the return of digital images of objects and digital copies of recordings by museums and other repositories to groups from which they originated rather than return of the objects themselves or the original recordings. The workshop will bring together scholars from diverse anthropological fields, indigenous communities, and collecting institutions to document sets of best practices and case studies of digital repatriation in order to theorize the broad impacts of such processes in relation to: linguistic revitalization of endangered languages, cultural revitalization of traditional practices and the creation of new knowledge stemming from the return of digitized material culture. Invited participants all have expertise in both applied digital repatriation projects and the theoretical concerns that locate knowledge creation within both culturally specific dynamics and technological applications. Documenting the process and practices of digital repatriation to indigenous communities globally contributes to a broad understanding of the possibilities and limits of digital repatriation for knowledge revitalization, preservation, and production. The workshop will result in three key products all aimed at broadening the public and scholarly understanding of digital repatriation: 1) an edited collection of essays based on the themes of the workshops panels, 2) a dedicated project website with informational materials, a space for dialogue pre-and post conference and an interactive database aggregating the results of digital repatriation projects globally with a focus on outcomes, best practices and partnerships, and 3) a set of white papers to be made freely available online with suggestions for best practices, international standards, and practical guidelines for researchers, indigenous communities and collecting institutions.