Repatriation and innovation: the impact of archival recordings on endangered dance-song traditions and ethnomusicological research

Abstract

For some time, ethnomusicologists working in Australian Aboriginal communities have repatriated and disseminated audio and video recordings from archival and personal collections to cultural heritage communities as a primary fieldwork method. Increasingly researchers are documenting these processes and are considering the complexities of repatriation and dissemination, and their role in supporting creative innovation and in sustaining performance traditions. As such, while we consider the contexts in which archival materials influence and may be used to innovate endangered song traditions, we might likewise consider ways in which the process of returning materials influences and innovates fieldwork and research. This paper will outline the materials and processes of repatriation involved in the Australian Research Council project 'Strategies for Preserving and Sustaining Endangered Song and Dance in the modern world: the Mowanjum and Fitzroy River Valley communities of WA'. The paper will present perspectives from both cultural heritage stakeholders and researchers on the role of repatriation of archival materials in: fostering partnerships between researchers and communities; in supporting the capacity of local organizations; in supporting intergenerational engagement around dance-song knowledge; and, in better understanding the intersections and tensions between traditional systems of knowledge management and dissemination, local community archives, and national archives.