Royal Saskatchewan Museum Launches Indigenous Cultural Online Archive

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The Royal Saskatchewan Museum has created an online catalogue that allows access to photo archives of 1,800 cultural belongings from the museum's Indigenous Cultural Heritage Collection. 

Working closely with regional Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers, the museum team created the website as a resource to explore the art and history of Indigenous communities in what is now Saskatchewan. 

Viewers can browse photos of items such as garments, musical instruments, weaponry and equipment, including kitchenware and saddles. 

People can search the collection by origin, name, location, donor, artist and accession number. 

The site also includes Sacred Collections, a set of culturally sensitive belongings exclusively available to Indigenous peoples with personal ties to the listed items as per the Repatriation and Shared Stewardship Policy.

In addition to photographs, RSM has included only the necessary information about the pieces while leaving out exact descriptions and explanations of the belongings. It is part of the museum’s initiative to expand relationships with Indigenous communities. 

“It is our hope that as we make more connections with Indigenous peoples and communities and reconnect these belongings, we can invite them to work with us to write these descriptions and grow the website,” according to the Indigenous Cultural Heritage Collection site. 

This project started in 2023 and was funded with Canadian Heritage’s Museums Assistance Program. 

Source: Prairie Art Network