The use of land acknowledgments in small, local history museums in the Seattle area

Authors:

• Samantha McGee, Museology Graduate Program
• Chair: Jessica Luke
• Chadwick Allen
• Merilee Mostov

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Abstract:

Small, local history museums are typically founded on narratives of the achievements of white settler-colonizers, and historically rarely include discussion of the Indigenous history of their locations. Recently, many of these museums are deconstructing this narrative and integrating decolonization practices into their museums. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the ways in which small, local history museums in the Seattle area are using land acknowledgments in their day-to-day operations. Through a descriptive survey of 9 Seattle area museums, the researcher utilized interviews and questionnaires to investigate how museums develop and use these statements, and why they were motivated to use them. Findings show that most museums involved or collaborated with Indigenous individuals or communities in the development of the statements, that they operationalized these statements in various verbal and written formats, and that the common trends in museums’ motivations were acknowledging Indigenous land, recognizing the impacts of colonization, and because they perceived it as a best practice. Because this study focused only on the museums’ perspective on their use of land acknowledgments, implications suggest that both museum practice and further research on land acknowledgments could benefit from collaboration with the Indigenous communities being recognized in these statements.