An Incomplete Glossary of Change to Activate Decolonising and Indigenising Practices in Museums

Abstract

In this article, drawing on my perspective as a settler of white Euro-Welsh/English/Irish ancestry, I discuss words and concepts that are crucial to decolonising and Indigenising museums, with a particular focus on the lands now known as Canada. Museums, heritage spaces and other memory institutions are only beginning to grapple with decolonising and Indigenising approaches that place unacknowledged and unstated colonial norms under scrutiny (despite calls for such actions from Indigenous scholars, curators and activists for many decades if not centuries). The decades of genocide attempts documented in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Report and Calls to Action (2015) amplified the need for this work. Conversations around what ‘Reconciliation’ means for non-Indigenous people are slowly gaining momentum as museums, and the wider GLAM sector, look at how to implement decolonising and Indigenising actions in meaningful ways. I discuss Nerida Blair’s concept of Lilyology and la paperson’s institutional internalisation of scyborgism as part of my discussion of how museums and museum professionals can undertake actions for decolonising and Indigenising their practices and collections.