"Making Right Some Historical Wrongs:  A Ts'msyen Standpoint on Access and Control of Indigenous Cultural Heritage"

Dr. Robin Gray, President's Post doctoral Fellow, History Department, UC Santa Cruz

Abstract:  
The repatriation of Indigenous cultural heritage is not limited to the reburial of human remains, or the return of in/tangible expressions of culture such as totem poles. It also includes the repatriation of aural expressions of cultural knowledge such as songs and oral histories. In a time when overt Indigenous cultural expressions were illegal in Canada as a result of the Potlatch Ban (1885-1951), access to Indigenous songs and oral histories were not passively consumed by outsiders; they were captured and documented in tangible forms that became externally copyrighted as knowledge products in public and private domains.this talk I will discuss the  processes involved in reclaiming Ts’msyen songs from archives, with an emphasis on the ethical concerns of ownership, access and control.

"Making Right Some Historical Wrongs:  A Ts'msyen Standpoint on Access and Control of Indigenous Cultural Heritage"

Dr. Robin Gray, President's Post doctoral Fellow, History Department, UC Santa Cruz