Museums and Indigenous Languages: Limits and Possibilities

Join us for a conversation about Museums and Indigenous Languages: Limits and Possibilities and how the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action 13, 14 & 67 can be applied in public spaces leading up to the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation.

Felipe Armstrong, Archaeologist and Curator, and Claudio Alvarado Lincopi, Mapuche Historian and Curator at the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Indigenous languages are more than means of communication—they are systems of knowledge, historical memory, and ways of relating to the world. This presentation explores both the possibilities and the limits of museum work with and through Indigenous languages, drawing on experiences at the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino and the challenges we currently face.

We will discuss how museums can contribute to language revitalization beyond visibility and formal education, grounded in an ethic of commitment: a willingness to engage with alternative ontological and linguistic frameworks, to decentralize institutional authority, and to build sustained alliances with speakers, communities, and revitalization movements. Rather than offering fixed solutions, this presentation seeks to open questions, understanding that working with Indigenous languages in museums is part of a deeper transformation of our epistemological foundations.

Curatorial team from the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre in Whistler

Call to Action 13. We call upon the federal government to acknowledge that Aboriginal rights include Aboriginal language rights.

14. We call upon the federal government to enact an Aboriginal Languages Act that incorporates the following principles: i. Aboriginal languages are a fundamental and valued element of Canadian culture and society, and there is an urgency to preserve them.

67. We call upon the federal government to provide funding to the Canadian Museums Association to undertake, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, a national review of museum policies and best practices to determine the level of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to make recommendations.

Also check out other Arts events in Whistler, Fine Arts events in Whistler.