Awards

• Short-listed for Aboriginal Book History Prize, Canadian Historical Association 2015 (Canada)

Overview

When the Franklin Motor Expedition set out across the Canadian Prairies to collect First Nations artifacts, brutal assimilation policies threatened to decimate these cultures and extensive programs of ethnographic salvage were in place. Despite having only three members, the expedition amassed the largest single collection of Prairie heritage items currently held in a British museum. In this book, Alison K. Brown draws together the multiple narratives that make up this encounter, consulting descendants of the collectors and members of the affected First Nations and reviewing both expedition images and the artifacts themselves. In doing so, she explores the context within which the collection was made as well as the complex relationships between museums, anthropologists, and First Nations. Accessibly written and vigorously researched, First Nations, Museums, Narrations raises timely questions about the role of collections in the twenty-first century and considers the way forward for indigenous peoples and the museums that house their cultural treasures.

Full Product Details

9780774827263

Table of Contents

Reviews

First Nations, Museums, Narrations is a helpful and thought-provoking book that encourages the reader to explore not only museum collections but also how we describe the artifacts housed within. Coming out of more than a decade of field research, Brown's book should be read by anyone involved in museums and Native collections. -- Jared Eberle, Oklahoma State University * Native American and Indigenous Studies * This well-crafted and compelling book contributes to a burgeoning field of literature on the roles of museums in forging productive social relationships in colonial, national, and international contexts. -- Cory Willmott, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

This well-crafted and compelling book contributes to a burgeoning field of literature on the roles of museums in forging productive social relationships in colonial, national, and international contexts. -- Cory Willmott, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Author Information

Alison K. Brown is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

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