ABSTRACT
The collections of the Norwegian brothers Adrian and Filip Jacobsen, most of which are housed in the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin, have received continuous attention. For 140 years, the 7000 objects collected from the USA and Canadian Northwest Coast and Alaska in the 1880s have inspired ongoing research by international scholars, as well as consultations by delegations of indigenous groups in the countries of origin. This contribution deals with the different motivations highlighted by means of a chronological documentation and thematic analysis. How have the questions posed of the collection changed over the decades? What is the impact of this interaction? Given the scope and diverse provenance of the Jacobsen collection, the ambitions for engagement varied, as did the representatives who came to Germany to study the heritage of their ancestors: Elders, Chiefs, artists, curators, professors. The constant change of knowledge structures is traced from collecting practices, commercialisation including the “Völkerschauen,” to new partnership actions such as a restitution and a ceremonial erection of a totem pole.
