Applicable Models for Audiovisual Archives and Collections: Engagement With Indigenous Communities and Archival Materials

Abstract

From intellectual property and repatriation of materials to tribes, to the access restriction of recordings of sacred and secret Aboriginal practices, to public exhibition decisions, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage is an emergent site of power negotiation and cultural representation in museums and archives, and leads to many practical concerns for the management of archives and libraries. The disenfranchisement that Indigenous populations have historically faced, and continue to contend with, make archives a potent arena for negotiating rights, representation, and advocacy. Archives offer materials that serve many positive functions, as vital evidence in land rights cases, tools for endangered language learning, and engagement with genealogy and community history. However, archival collections and practices carry with them a complex legacy of ethnocentrism and cultural oppression. For example, institutions hold collections that were collected unethically or under duress to Native populations, as well as recordings or documentation of traditional practices or rituals that should only be accessible to certain members of communities. The interpretation of these materials is a sensitive issue that leads to curatorial and preservation roadblocks.