ABSTRACT
Walsh examines the University of Victoria and Legacy Art Gallery’s repatriation of children’s paintings produced at the Alberni Residential School between 1959 and 1964 to Survivors and their families in 2013. The chapter describes a process of Survivor-led repatriation by people from various nations (Haida, Nuu-chah-nulth, Nisga’a, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka’wakw, Oweekeno, and Salish) as part of a larger process of decolonizing collections and curatorial practices surrounding sensitive material. Walsh describes how, consulting with local Salish elders, the process was guided by the Salish concept of uy’skwuluwun (which translates to “working with a good mind and good heart”) and the dedication to caring for not just the objects but the people connected to them. Walsh examines how this case study can inform or influence Indigenous-led and collaborative approaches to the curation and exhibition of contested or difficult material.
