Beyond acknowledgement: Indigenous-centered projects on reclamation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Abstract

This essay discusses the work of several campus units and projects at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that center and build collaborative relationships with Tribal Nations, and support the efforts of sovereign Nations to access and manage their cultural heritage. These projects and initiatives include the NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) Office, which develops strategies with partner Tribal Nations to facilitate repatriation; the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, which has partnered with Native and Indigenous artists and communities to develop exhibitions and programs; the University of Illinois Archives, which has been collaborating with Native communities to co-curate and co-develop access protocols for archival materials collected by anthropologists in the 1960s; and the Round Rock Community History Project, which engages Kindergarten to Grade 8 students and teachers at a reservation-based school on the Navajo Nation in partnership with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Collaborative for Harmony, Empowerment, and Innovation.

Keywords

NAGPRA Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act repatriation museums cultural heritage management principles of library and information science

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