A knowledge exchange between indigenous peoples from Alaska and the Ethnological Museum Berlin. Exciting, I thought, and quickly researched what the press event might be about.
The Getting Our Stories Back project begins with the return of nine grave goods to the Chugach community in 2018. The pieces were collected in Alaska in the 19th century by Norwegian explorer and adventurer Johan Adrian Jacobsen.
John Falkirk is a journalist at the Svenska Dagbladet in Stockholm and currently an IJP scholarship holder at the Tagesspiegel.
Another chapter in the colonial legacy debate that has made international media headlines. And rather than settle for return, the museum and the Native People have decided to deepen their relationship. Sounds good.
Selected shells and ship models
So this week in Dahlem, a couple of journalists were taken to the depot of the Ethnological Museum, to a research room. On a table lay stone bowls, models of ships, and other objects that the Chugach elders considered of special importance.
Community representatives and German researchers in white coats shared the findings of the joint project. The people of Dahlem learned new things about weaving techniques, and Mr. Jacobsen misunderstood this and that.
Maybe it was my Swedish background, maybe I was a bit lost in translation. Anyway, I wondered if I had missed something. Is this an exhibition that is being presented or is it a return? I raised my hand and said, “Sorry, stupid question, but what actually happens to these artifacts?”
The answer: not much. They will not be returned because most of the items were bought at the time and were not stolen. However, they are not to be shown publicly in the near future (but they can still be accessed online).
It is a good idea that indigenous communities work together with European institutions. It also makes more sense for the communities of origin to tell their own stories than for Western researchers to do it with their postcolonial, nonetheless academic perspectives.
Dealing with artefacts that have probably been bought fairly is an interesting topic. More complicated than if it was Nazi looted art or grave looting. Do museums have a responsibility to return such objects? Not necessarily. And there was nothing more to report from Dahlem that day.
