Ethnomusicology has long fought to amplify the musics, sounds, and cultures of marginalized and minoritized peoples. It has often done this from within academies that privilege a white, male, art music canon. At the same time, ethnomusicology and its archives have been complicit in colonialism and acts of misappropriation. After all, both the field and the archives were forged during the colonial period. As ethnomusicologist Tony Seeger writes,

Ethnomusicology, and archives themselves, are inextricably part of the colonial period. The establishment of sound archives was part of an epoch that saw the consolidation of the mercantile and political expansion of Europe and the United States throughout the world. Although the motives may have been different in each case, there is no doubt that the material wealth, musical instruments, and recorded sounds of much of the world were accumulated in the Occident. Similarly, the music of the rural poor is preserved by, and largely accessible to, middle-class urban populations” (Seeger, Anthony. "The Role of Sound Archives in Ethnomusicology Today." Ethnomusicology 30, no. 2 (1986): 261-76). 

The UW Ethnomusicology Archives actively attempts to redress this legacy. It is committed to digitally and, if needed, physically returning collections UW holds to Tribes, families, and communities of origin. Returning and repatriation have thankfully been cornerstones of the Archives since its founding by Robert Garfias in 1962. This core value continued to thrive under the subsequent stewardship of Laurel Sercombe and continues today with current archivist John Vallier. That said, we realize that simple returning neither absolves the field from this problematic tradition of extraction nor assuages harm that may have resulted from past unethical collecting practices. Sociologist Robin Gray, who is Ts’msyen from Lax Kw’alaams, B.C. and Mikisew Cree from Fort Chipewyan, A.B., writes,

"The politics of Indigenous repatriation—whether it involves human remains, objects, or songs—requires that it be restorative so that the source community can find a sense of resolution from historical injustices…. " (Gray, Robin R.R. 2018. “Repatriation and Decolonization: Thoughts on Ownership, Access and Control.” The Oxford Handbook of Musical Repatriation. Oxford University Press). 

Indeed, we agree that return is but one part of a truly restorative repatriation project and acknowledge that such projects require us to center community voices and work collaboratively with the people who represent a community, Tribe, or family. At the same time, we recognize that "collaboration" itself can be a fraught term. As Beverly Diamond and Janice Esther Tulk note in their work on the ethics of repatriation,

“While community collaboration is assumed to be positive, our ... experience indicates that there are many kinds of collaboration, and issues are neither simple, straightforward, nor inevitably benign" (Beverly Diamond and Janice Esther Tulk. 2018. “Rethinking Repatriation and Curation in Newfoundland: Archives, Angst, and Opportunity.” The Oxford Handbook of Musical Repatriation. Oxford University Press).

In our minds, true collaboration requires listening and understanding, flexibility, patience, and a willingness to recalibrate expectations. For our collections at UW, it may require ditching institutional claims to copyright in support of ownership claims made by the Tribes, communities, and individuals represented in the collections, as well as a willingness to rethink long established protocols for collection access. These conversations are by no means easy or straightforward, and the resulting decisions may not be wholly satisfactory to all parties concerned. However, these kinds of reparative collaborations are vital for the ethical stewardship of the Archives moving forward. 

Please see below for a small sampling of our returning efforts in the Archives. We share it to both highlight this work and underscore how much more we have left to do. On that note, if you support these kinds of reciprocally spirited initiatives, please let us know. We will pass on your thoughts on to administrators in the hopes of both raising awareness and budgets for such projects.