Unsettling Assumptions about Community Engagement: A New Perspective on Indigenous Blackfoot Participation in Museums and Heritage Sites in Alberta, Canada Bryony Annette Onciul International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies School of Arts and Cultures Newcastle University Submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2011 Abstract In post-colonial nations such as Canada, sharing power and authorship is increasingly used as a strategy by museums to attempt to pluralise, democratise and decolonise relations with, and representations of, Indigenous peoples. While honourable in its intentions, the increasingly ubiquitous practice of community engagement in museums has been under analysed, and its difficulties and complexities understated. This thesis critically analyses engagement in museum and heritage practice and carefully unpicks the nuances of, and naturalised assumptions about, collaboration and self-representation. Power relations and their tangible manifestations in the form of exhibits, employment, relations, and new curatorial practices, are at the core of the analysis. As a comparative study the research provides a cross-disciplinary analysis of mainstream and community museums and heritage sites through four case-studies. Each of the case-studies engaged with Indigenous Blackfoot communities in southern Alberta, Canada, through consultation, partnership, co-ownership or community control. Between 2006 and 2009 I spent twenty-four months in Alberta researching the case- studies and conducting forty-eight in-depth interviews with museum and community members. This research makes a new contribution to the field through its emphasis on community participants’ perspectives; the importance of inter-community collaboration; and its development of the concept of ‘engagement zones’ which builds on James Clifford’s theory of the museum as contact zone. I argue that engagement creates risks and costs for participants and is not necessarily as empowering or beneficial as current discourse purports. The research illustrates that sharing power is neither simple nor conclusive, but a complex and unpredictable first step in building new relations between museums and Indigenous communities. Understanding the current limits of engagement and restrictions to museum indigenisation will enable collaborative efforts to be strategically utilised to work within and go beyond current boundaries and facilitate reciprocities that can begin to decolonise relations and enrich both museums and communities. i Acknowledgements I would like to give my unending thanks to all the people who participated in my research and gave me access to their communities, museums and heritage sites. Thank you for your generosity, hospitality, patience and kindness. Without you this research would not have been possible. Huge thanks must be given to my supervisorial team Dr Rhiannon Mason and Gerard Corsane, for their support, guidance, motivation and thoughts. Funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council made this research possible and an additional travel grant supported my time in the field. The Newcastle University department of ICCHS and my fellow Post-Graduate Researchers provided me with a creative and enjoyable environment in which to develop as a researcher and produce this work. My friends have been as source of inspiration, support and energy, which has motivated and helped me continue on this journey. Special mention must go to Kevin Hill; Narcisse Blood; Gerry Conaty; Jim Martin; Jack Brink; Bev Wright; Bob Janes; Jack Royal; Trevor Kiitokii; Beth Carter; Cathy Heggs; Irene Kerr; Judy Bedford; and Camille Owens. Thank you to my in-laws for their eye on the news; to my parents for all their help and support; to my husband Kyle for everything he does, and to my young son Theo who delights and amazes me daily. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... iii List of Illustrations ...................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Question, Aims and Objectives ........................................................................... 2 1.2 An Introduction to the Blackfoot Confederacy ................................................................... 3 1.3 An Introduction to the Case-Studies ................................................................................... 9 1.3.1 Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Centre .................................................. 11 1.3.2 Glenbow Museum ........................................................................................................ 13 1.3.3 Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum ................................................................................. 16 1.3.4 Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park ............................................................................ 18 1.4 Thesis Synopsis ................................................................................................................. 20 Chapter 2. Museums and Blackfoot Community Engagement: A Brief Literature Review22 Chapter 3. Methods of Engaging with Communities and Case-Studies ............................... 27 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Case-Studies ...................................................................................................................... 28 3.3 Textual Approach Method ................................................................................................ 30 3.4 Semi-participant Observation ........................................................................................... 33 3.5 In-depth Semi-structured Interviewing ............................................................................. 35 3.6 Reflexivity ......................................................................................................................... 42 3.7 Cultural Sensitivity ........................................................................................................... 45 3.8 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 47 Chapter 4: Theorising Power and Voice .................................................................................. 48 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 48 4.2 Museums’ Roles in Society ............................................................................................... 49 4.2.1 An authority on ‘truth’ ................................................................................................ 49 4.2.2 Challenges to museum authority ................................................................................. 50 4.2.3 Backlash to change ..................................................................................................... 52 4.2.4 Mismatch between rhetoric and practice .................................................................... 53 4.3 Representing ‘Others’ ....................................................................................................... 55 4.3.1 What is a community? ................................................................................................. 57 4.4 Sharing Power and Authorship ......................................................................................... 59 4.4.1 The nature of power .................................................................................................... 59 4.4.2 Can power be shared? ................................................................................................ 61 4.4.3 Problems of sharing power and authority .................................................................. 63 iii 4.4.4 Censorship .................................................................................................................. 63 4.4.5 Consent ....................................................................................................................... 65 4.4.6 Self-censorship ............................................................................................................ 66 4.5 Can ‘Subalterns’ Speak and Be Heard? ............................................................................ 67 4.5.1 Essentialising selves .................................................................................................... 68 4.5.2 Can subalterns be heard? ........................................................................................... 70 4.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 72 Chapter 5: Placing Community Relations with Museums in a Canadian Context .............. 74 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 74 5.2 Contact Experience ..........................................................................................................