Robin R. R. Gray (Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, UTM) presents “Repatriating Indigenous Cultural Heritage: A Case of Ts’msyen Songs”
Thursday, November 25 at 3:30 pm
Prof. Gray will present her talk over Zoom. We invite students, faculty and staff to join us in EJB 130 for a collective viewing of the live stream. The in-person audience will be able to participate in the Q&A. If you would like to attend the colloquium from EJB 130, please email the Colloquium Assistant, Vanessa Romao (vanessa.romao@mail.utoronto.ca).
We invite faculty and other community members to participate in the colloquium online via Zoom. Please email Prof. Daphne Tan at daphne.tan@utoronto.ca or Prof. Lyndsey Copeland at lyndsey.copeland@utoronto.ca for the webinar link.
Abstract
The repatriation of Indigenous cultural heritage, ranging from bodies and objects to knowledge, is a socio-cultural, spiritual, and political priority for Indigenous communities worldwide. While Indigenous peoples have had varying levels of success securing the release of their ancestors and belongings from captivity, the repatriation of intangible heritage such as song is relatively new terrain. Drawing on research from an ongoing case study to repatriate a single collection of Ts’msyen songs from multiple archives with, by, and for Ts’msyen from Lax Kw’alaams, B.C., this talk will offer considerations about the colonizing properties of intellectual property laws, the reach of Indigenous dispossession in the archive, and why Indigenous laws should be respected as precedent for ownership, access, and control of Indigenous cultural heritage.
2021-2022 Series Lineup*
September 23: Laura Risk (Department of Arts, Culture, and Media, UTSC; Faculty of Music, UTSG)
October 21: Mark Campbell (Department of Arts, Culture, and Media, UTSC; Faculty of Music, UTSG)
November 25: Robin Gray (Department of Sociology, UTM)
December 2: Mitchell Akiyama (Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, UTSG)
*Note that each of our Colloquium speakers is a member of the University of Toronto; we are abiding by the CAUT censure and inviting only internal speakers until further notice.