Who Owns Culture? Museums, History, and the Stories We Tell

Who owns culture, and who gets to tell its stories? We explore the complex and often uncomfortable debate around cultural ownership, appropriation, and representation. You’ll hear how a hidden figure in a centuries-old painting forced museums to rethink history, why some argue artifacts should be returned to their communities, and how others worry that limiting who can tell cultural stories may actually close doors to understanding. We also explore stories of repatriation and healing, alongside questions about cultural appreciation vs. appropriation. GUESTS Marenka Thompson-Odlum, PhD, Research Curator, Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/labelling-matters). Tiffany Jenkins, journalist and author of “Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums and Why They Should Stay There” (https://tiffanyjenkinsinfo.com/). Ann E. Meilus Esq., President of the Barre Museum Association Manny Iron Hawk, member of the Lakota Nation; Spokesperson for HAWK (Heartbeat at Wounded Knee) 1890 Survivor Descendants society Renee Iron Hawk, member of the Lakota Nation; Secretary for HAWK 1890 Survivor Descendants society (https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/we-re-going-to-make-a-way-wounded-knee-survivors-and-relatives-travel-to-new-england-to-ask-for-their-artifacts-back). Mia Moody-Ramirez, PhD Chair of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media, Baylor University College of Arts & Sciences (https://www.miamoody.org/). CHAPTERS (0:00) Introduction (0:57) Glasgow Portrait Revealed (2:58) Scotland and Slavery Links (4:48) Reframing Museum Labels (7:02) Inside Pitt Rivers Museum (9:57) Three Curator Questions (13:51) Shrunken Heads Removed (16:28) Who Owns the Past (21:17) Case Study Elgin Marbles (28:33) Wounded Knee Repatriation (39:02) Appreciation vs Appropriation (47:49) Navigating Gray Areas