Digital Kinship

In this interview, Courteney Morin and Paul Seesequasis discuss the politics of Indigenous historical photography, repatriation and visual reclamation, and the urgency felt to identify and story ancestor’s memories. Seesequasis provides additional context about the Nelson exhibit Turning the Lens: Indigenous Archive Project, which exemplifies complicated historical experiences of Sinixt and Ktunaxa Nations in the Nelson region. Seesequasis shares how mislabeled and unlabeled photographs in the Nelson Museum Archive spurred discourse around which photos belong to which Nation, thus rendering the forthcoming book Turning the Lens chapter on British Columbia as contentious. Seesequasis’s commitment and passion for representations of visual survivance and authentic community connections is made clear by his patience and support of the process in Nelson and the book. Moreover, his reverence for ancestors in the archival photographs, respect for cultural protocols, and caring methodology is made clear throughout our interview. Seesequasis was a delight to speak with and my hope is that archivists, activists, and academics take note of his steadfast responsibility to community and principled ethic that not everything need digitizing nor does everything in the archive need to be public facing. Cultural and community protocols and governance should be at the forefront of museums and archives’ engagements with Indigenous ancestors and materials. The Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery is a case study that underscores best practices in territories with complex and layered histories.