Margaret M. Bruchac
• My current research focuses on the social and material relations among Indigenous informants and American anthropologists during the early twentieth century. I am examining patterns of museological collecting and representation that resulted in the alienation of cultural patrimony and the marginalization of Indigenous knowledges. Through critical study of the cross-cultural interactions that shaped collections, I call attention to Native individuals as intellectual agents in the museum enterprise, while unpacking the histories of collecting and life histories of significant objects in museums. These findings complicate and expand our understanding of anthropological research.
• Another field of study concerns Indigenous archaeologies and decolonizing methodologies. Here, I aim to articulate the complex social and political relations involved in conducting archaeology among Indigenous peoples. Inspired by the emergent field of Indigenous archaeologies, I note the paradigmatic shifts in archaeological research and practice resulting from the greater inclusion of Indigenous people in the field, landmark legislation in cultural property and heritage, increased attention to Indigenous human rights, and the efforts of the World Archaeological Congress.
• I have also been engaged in research on Haudenosaunee wampum, in collaboration with Richard W. Hill Sr. Here, I am exploring how restorative methodologies and Indigenous (rather than legalistic) curatorial protocols for categorization and examination could inform repatriation research and practice. My goal is to develop more accurate understandings of sacred objects housed in museums, and facilitate the repatriation of cultural patrimony.
• Another field of study concerns Indigenous archaeologies and decolonizing methodologies. Here, I aim to articulate the complex social and political relations involved in conducting archaeology among Indigenous peoples. Inspired by the emergent field of Indigenous archaeologies, I note the paradigmatic shifts in archaeological research and practice resulting from the greater inclusion of Indigenous people in the field, landmark legislation in cultural property and heritage, increased attention to Indigenous human rights, and the efforts of the World Archaeological Congress.
• I have also been engaged in research on Haudenosaunee wampum, in collaboration with Richard W. Hill Sr. Here, I am exploring how restorative methodologies and Indigenous (rather than legalistic) curatorial protocols for categorization and examination could inform repatriation research and practice. My goal is to develop more accurate understandings of sacred objects housed in museums, and facilitate the repatriation of cultural patrimony.
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