Beyond Consultation: Building Reciprocal Museum Relationships

ID: WMA2026_565

Track:

Museums increasingly seek meaningful collaboration with Indigenous communities, yet many institutions struggle to move beyond consultation toward true partnership. In this fishbowl-style conversation, members of the Natural History Museum of Utah’s Indigenous Advisory Committee share their perspectives on collaborating with museums through exhibitions, educator workshops, and youth and community programs. Together, participants will explore how institutions can build reciprocal relationships, improve reciprocal practices, and create more inclusive approaches to collections, research, and community engagement.

Session Information

Format: Regular session/panel (roundtable, single speaker, etc.)

Uniqueness: Community advisors—not museum staff—lead the conversation, using a panel/fishbowl dialogue format that invites attendees into a transparent discussion about collaboration, accountability, and shared authority.

Objectives:

By the end of the session, participants will:

1. Understand community perspectives on museum collaboration. Attendees will hear directly from Indigenous advisory committee members about their experiences partnering with museums on exhibitions, educational programming, and youth initiatives. These perspectives will provide insight into how community collaboration can support cultural representation, strengthen relationships, and expand museum relevance.
2. Identify practical strategies for building reciprocal partnerships. Participants will explore examples from the Natural History Museum of Utah’s collaborative initiatives, including consultation for exhibitions highlighting Native basket traditions, educator workshops focused on Shoshoni language and culture, and the Earth Connections Native student STEAM summer camp. These examples will illustrate approaches to collaboration that prioritize trust, shared authority, and long-term relationship building.
3. Reflect on institutional responsibilities in collections, research, and NAGPRA practices. Through dialogue with community members and peers, attendees will consider how museums can strengthen accountability and improve transparency in areas such as collections stewardship, research collaboration, and repatriation. Participants will leave with questions and practical ideas they can bring back to their institutions to support more ethical and community-informed practices.

Engagement: Participants will engage through a rotating fishbowl discussion where attendees can step into open seats to contribute questions, reflections, and experiences. After hearing from Indigenous advisory committee members, participants will join the conversation to explore practical strategies for improving collaboration with Indigenous communities. The session will conclude with small-group reflection prompts and shared takeaways that attendees can apply within their own institutions.

Relationship to Theme:

Audience

Audiences: Curators/Scientists/Historians Other Registrars, Collections Managers 

Professional Level: All levels 

Scalability: The lessons from this session apply to museums of all sizes. While the examples come from the Natural History Museum of Utah, the core strategies; building advisory relationships, creating shared authority in interpretation, and centering community voices in programming, can be adapted by small museums, university museums, and large institutions alike. Participants will discuss how collaborative practices can be implemented with limited resources, emphasizing relationship-building, transparency, and sustained engagement.

Participants