By Cara Krmpotich
Over two days, March 25-26, the Ontario Museum Association in partnership with the Canadian Museums Association, Canadian Museum of History and Canadian Heritage, hosted Mashkawatgong-mamawewiziwin, Strengthening our bonds, sharing our practice, the 2021 Indigenous Collections Symposium. GRASAC members were part of the organizing committee, and the program featured presentations by Naomi Recollet, who shared the history and distinct practices of the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, a founding partner of GRASAC; Laura Peers, who advised on how to access and navigate European collections, including through the use of the GKS; Mikinaak Migwans and Renée Wasson Dillard, who shared their experiences learning with and from bulrush mats in collections, and expressed their philosophy of mats as teachers and relatives. There were also a number of long-time friends of GRASAC in attendance and presenting their work with libraries, archives and museums.
This was the second Indigenous Collections Symposium hosted by the Ontario Museum Association (open-access proceedings from the first Symposium are available online), and it covered topics such as removing barriers for collections visits, Indigenous museum histories and Indigenous collections practices, current Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee research projects, conducting and caring for oral histories, and long-term strategies for upholding and enacting reconciliation within museum spaces. Guests from Haida Gwaii, Winnipeg, and Nunavut added perspectives from across Turtle Island, giving strong voice to Indigenous curatorial and heritage practices. Attendees were also treated to singing performances and dance lessons—all through the medium of Zoom!
The Symposium drew over 150 people, from small, volunteer-run centres to provincial and national institutions. Indigenous leadership was front and centre, represented by individuals who have worked for decades to make museums more welcoming spaces for Indigenous communities, and the next generation of Indigenous curators who are continuing to re-define the role of museums for their nations.
