Mootookakio’ssin Distant Awareness: Digital Imaging, Remote Viewing and Blackfoot items in the collections of Marischal Museum and National Museums Scotland

Abstract

‘New and changing technologies can work against the people or be harnessed and used in their own worldview’: Narcisse Blood. Mootookakio’ssin began with a circle gathering of Blackfoot Elders and researchers in July 2018 to discuss the digitization of Blackfoot items currently held in museum collections in the UK, and has since expanded to create a trans-Atlantic network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, museum professionals, digital specialists, anthropologists, and archaeologists, guided by Blackfoot ceremonial leaders. Knowledge Holders felt that virtual access utilising digital imaging techniques and spatial web technology would fit with their ongoing efforts to assist in processes of knowledge renewal and transmission. The name, Mootookakio’ssin, was given to the project by Dr. Leroy Little Bear. In English it means distant awareness. The name proved prescient as our collaboration moved from in person events and collection visits to virtual interactions over the pandemic period. Prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, we were planning for members of our group to visit Marischal Museum at the University of Aberdeen, where staff have a long-standing connection with the Blackfoot nations, and the National Museums Collection Centre (NMCC) in Edinburgh, which cares for Blackfoot items never before visited by Blackfoot people. Once it became clear that this visit would not be happening, a new research question emerged: how might we design a remote viewing experience to support the cultural revitalization for Indigenous communities when in-person access is not an option? In this paper we bring our interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on the practicalities, benefits and possibilities of remote viewing. Drawing on our virtual visits to Marischal Museum and NMCC we illustrate how interdisciplinary learning can be used as a methodology to interrogate complex problems and advocate for a greater understanding of the usage and impact of digital imaging practices across disciplines