ABSTRACT
In this chapter Migwans analyzes a range of instances illustrating the “relational anxiety” which may arise in Indigenous researchers when working with objects in museums. This anxiety results from the disconnect between the personhood ascribed to objects in Indigenous ontologies and the clinical, data-driven protocols which order interactions with these objects within colonial institutions that are at odds with the care Indigenous researchers feel compelled to give. Migwans advocates for a methodology grounded in care and relationality to navigate these traumatic encounters.
