Held in glass: Indigenous North America and the colonial afterlife of the Pitt Rivers Museum from 1901 to the present

Thesis

For over a hundred years the Oxford University Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) stood as a textbook example of colonialism. Now, the PRM claims that it is evolving from the colonial mindset of the 19th century towards a forward-thinking institution “where stories are shared by many voices” and that “want[s] to inspire empathy and deepen cross-cultural understanding.” Does the way Indigenous North American objects are currently displayed in the PRM align with its mission statement? How has the presentation of Indigenous North American objects in the PRM changed over time to reflect this? What conscious and subconscious messages do object labels and display cases communicate to visitors today, in comparison to what they have communicated in the past? While answering these questions, this dissertation examines the evolution of the Indigenous North American cases in the Pitt Rivers and analyses how these objects have been curated and presented to the public over the museum's history.

Authors: Roberson, T

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-eooepk2v8
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Native Americans; source community collaboration; object life history; Indigenous North America; decolonising museums; Pitt Rivers Museum; colonial legacies; museum display and interpretation
• Subjects: Indigenous peoples; Public History and Museum Education; Colonial and Postcolonial Studies; Museum and Heritage Studies; Cultural Heritage Management and Ethics; Archaeology; Social and Cultural Anthropology