Lines of Discovery on Inuit Needle Cases, Kakpiit, in Museum Collections

Abstract

AbstractDrawing on examples of museum collections research by Indigenous people, including my own research experiences, I argue for the importance of Indigenous people's access to museum collections for cultural and language revitalization efforts. Access to museum collections generates and stimulates memories and knowledge among elders and young people; thus it helps to preserve and promote intangible heritage alongside interactions with tangible belongings. I position myself as an Inuk individual, utilizing Indigenous epistemology and methodology to guide my path in an effort to decolonize museum collections and to help foster a meaningful relationship between Inuit communities and museum collections. Through the study of needle cases in museum collections and interactions with local community members in Canada's Arctic, I explore the questions: How can Arctic museum collections serve as an intermediary between the Inuit community and the discipline of anthropology? How can Inuit perspectives and interpretations of our own cultural material influence knowledge about needle cases, as well as other cultural material that is curated in museums? [Inuit, needle cases, kakpiit, museum collections]