Paper to Inuit Studies in Val d’Dor, Quebec, 28.-30. October 2010
Repatriation of Indigenous knowledge and intellectual property to East Greenland
By: Aviâja Rosing Jakobsen & Cunera Buijs
Introduction
The National Museum of Ethnology (NME) in Leiden and Museon in The Haag houses an
interesting photo collection from East Greenland comprising more than 1000 black and white photos
taken by Gerti Nooter in East Greenland in 1965, 1967 and 1968 and ca. 10.000 photographs and
colour-slides up to 1990 are housed exclusively in Leiden. These photos are now of great importance
for the Tunumiit (East Greenlanders) who recognize in them ancestors, places in land and Inuit
activities (hunting and fishing, travelling, celebrations) and can be seen as intellectual property of the
Tunumiit. In October 2007, NME and Greenland National Museum & Archives in Nuuk signed a
Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate and share knowledge on collections. The curators of
Leiden and Nuuk started a joint research project during which the data will be put into a website that
will allow Greenlanders to see and print the photos, read the old texts, and add their own information
and comments.
The photos from the 1930s: Van Zuylen
Jacob van Zuylen, leader of the Royal Dutch Meteorological Expedition, organized during the
International Polar Year (IPY) 1932-34, stayed for two years in the Tasiilaq (Ammassalik) area of
East Greenland. Van Zuylen stayed one year longer than the other members to continue his
meteorological research. He was very close to a few East Greenlandic families. During his extra year
he stayed at the household of Salo and Mala Boassen. He made 250 black and white photos in
Tasiilaq, Kuummiit and Diiderilaaq (Tiniteqilaaq) dating from 1932-34.
The photos from the 1960s: Gerti Nooter
Gerti Nooter became a curator in the Museon in 1960 where he got acquainted with the Greenland
collection. He was impressed and inspired, not only by the collection of Tinbergen, but also by the
way in which the biologist conducted his research and by the organisation of his travels in this vast
white wilderness. Tinbergen’s method of operation and his experiences in East Greenland became a
source of inspiration for Nooter. Nooter’s main project was to collect hunting equipments and
information about these by people who used the equipments. Nooter and his family, his wife and two
sons, stayed in Tiniteqilaaq for 14 months in the period of 1967-68. In this period Nooter took 1000
black and white photographs during his stay in Tiniteqilaaq.
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Development
Greenland National Museum & Archives hosted an international conference on repatriation of
cultural heritagei in Nuuk, addressing all parties involved in repatriation: researchers and museum
curators, representatives of Western governments, Third and Fourth World populations, UN agencies
and other inter- and non-governmental organizations. The aim of the conference was to facilitate not
only an international but also a cross-disciplinary dialogue aimed at creating understanding and
mutual respect between the parties involved in repatriation in order to work out perspectives for
future collaboration (Thorleifsen, 2008). According to the director of the Greenland National
Museum & Archives Daniel Thorleifsen the primary goal of repatriation should never be the transfer
itself, but the establishment of a working relationship that can be beneficial to all parties involved
regarding the sharing of knowledge in future research projects exhibitions etc. Also the concerns of
various ethnic groups, as well as those of science are legitimate and to be respected. This respect will
permit acceptable agreements to be reached and honoured (Thorleifsen, 2007). Previously, the
opinion was different: at that time the opinion was to repatriate every artefact placed in museums
over all the world.
The cooperation between Tasiilaq Museum, NME, NKA and Museon in the Haag on the photo
project is a vital piece of evidence of the forging of new bridges between museums and overseas
source communities. According to Peers and Brown the work between museums and source
communities is changing different initiatives for cooperating in proportion to research and retrieval
of information/data to the collections of the museums (Peers and Brown, 2003). In this case the
NME and The Greenland National Museum & Archives are the proof of this kind of cooperative
work. By the Memorandum of Understanding that NME and NKA have signed both museums are
working together about the project of photos from East Greenland, which will lead to a
communication between diaspora communities in this case East Greenland / Greenland, by sharing
photographs from the 1930s and the 1960s. Here people from East Greenland get the opportunity to
see photographs without travelling faraway, which is very expensive, and both museums can get very
useful and helpful information about the particular items. It is also a new way of communication in
Greenland, which is a great opportunity to connect people in a land with great distances, and without
roads between cities. It is of vital importance to involve the indigenous people in researching and
collecting data as it is on their history the aim is about.
The informants tell their story about their relation to the particular photograph they have chosen.
Through the story about the photo we get information which describe the relation between the
storyteller and the situation. It could be family relations or traditions or old customs related to the
situation of the photograph. It is very important to record these kinds of situations for the sake of the
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rising generation. Artefacts and photographs get more value if the history has been told. Inuit
philosophy says that every thing has a sila or inua.
Repatriation of artefacts to one’s country is not always possible, and sometimes one must go to the
artefacts to get the information.
In Greenland, museums are obliged to collect knowledge on traditional hunting techniques and
equipments. Not at least the traditional preparation of sealskins, bird skins, gut skins and the building
of kayaks and other skin boats are to be obliged. This knowledge is in the hands of our elders; we
have to get it from them before it is too late. Since they are the last generation with that knowledge,
they can tell us about our cultural heritage by the words and feelings that are connected to these
artefacts. The history of the artefacts is the target, if there is no history attached to the artefact it is
almost of no value. Every time one goes to a museum to see prehistoric artefacts one has an
expectation to see ones ancestors work.
The new way of seeing the relation between researchers and the indigenous people in the work of
collecting data about artefacts is revolutionary. Using the knowledge from the indigenous is a great
development in the sphere of the world of scientists/researchers. Researchers from earlier times in
my point of view have missed the part of the indigenous people content, but not generally. In my
time at the university, while studying and in my work today as a curator at the Greenland National
Museum & Archives, I noticed that phenomenon. I am not saying these valuable data from earlier
researchers are inadequate, but I mostly have unanswered questions about the missing link or about
the social life, customs and traditions of the way people lived at that time. Sometimes there is a need
to understand myself and my cultural heritage. The data from indigenous people is a treasure we
have to handle with respect and maintain for posterity. Today more and more indigenous people have
research related education.
Project Roots 2 Share
The aim of the project Roots 2 Share is to share information on collections of material culture and
especially photographs from Greenland housed in the Netherlands. The Museon in the Haag
(Diederik Veerman), The National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden (Cunera Buijs), Tasiilaq
Museum (Carl-Erik Holm) and Greenland National Museum & Archives (Aviâja Rosing Jakobsen)
cooperate in a project on the collection of photographs by Jacob van Zuylen and Gerti Nooter. Four
curators from the four museums are now preparing a website with the photographs of Nooter. The
aim of the website is to give the possibility to the East Greenlanders to see the photographs and to
comment on them, also to add information in their own language. This is a new way of sharing
cultural heritage knowledge. It is much easier to reach many people. The first step was made in 2003
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with the exhibition of Dutch photos by Jacob van Zuylen taken in 1932-34 in East Greenland. The
exhibitions were held in the Grønlændernes Hus in Copenhagen, the Greenland National Museum in
Nuuk and at the Ammassalik Museum in the region where the photos came from. In 2008 with the
help of the Dutch embassy in Copenhagen the exhibition was sent to the Narsaq Museum in South
Greenland and to Sisimiut. In 2010 the exhibition was again on display in Tasiilaq and will travel
along the small settlements of the district afterwards. The photographs from East Greenland are from
the period of the 1930s and the 1960s. The aim of the project is to put photographs taken by van
Zuylen and Nooter on a website and thus available to the public. At first we will concentrate on a
few photographs by Nooter on the website and later on when we know better how to handle the
information from people about the photos we will put on more of them from both van Zuylen and
Nooter. People get the opportunity to add their information in East Greenlandic language to a
photograph they are familiar with. In connection with the photographs, a film was produced with
interviews of the informants from East Greenlandii. The informants gave their story about one
particular photo they felt attached to – a story of the past which was triggered by seeing this
photograph, regarding the persons on the photo, also if oneself is seen in the photo. The spoken
Tunumiusut (East Greenlandic language) was transcribed and translated into Danish, by local experts
in East Greenland.
Conclusion
The working relationship between Tasiilaq Museum, National Museum of Ethnology, Museon in the
Haag and Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu was successful. Tasiilaq Museum found people
to help in the transcriptions of the East Greenlandic interviews as well as an interpreter to translate
into Danish. NME in Leiden found informants for the interviews and ensured accommodation for the
filmmakers and other practical arrangements, and housed five East Greenlandic consultants visiting
The Netherlands in November 2010. The Museon in the Haag is responsible for the preparation of
the website and creation of it. NKA has the task of editing the incoming information from users of
the website www.Roots2Share.gl. (A first test and brief introduction of the site in Nuuk and East
Greenland was organised in May 2011).
There will be two exhibitions made in the Netherlands with Greenlandic input; one will travel to
Greenland and will be made together with our people.
Our expectation from this project is a good working relationship among researchers and the locals
(indigenous). The knowledge from the locals is of great value in diffusing knowledge
about our cultural heritage worldwide. Definitely new information will be retrieved and the project
can be seen as innovative for the way museums work. The project Roots 2 Share is work in process
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lasting to 2014 and is financed by the museums involved and by a grant from a Dutch fund, applied
for with the help of the four partner museums and coordinated by the Museon in the Haag.
Jacob van Zuylen, 1930’s
Photo by Jacob van Zuylen, 1930’s
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Gerti Nooter, 1960’s
Photo by Gerti Nooter, 1960’s
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References
Broekhoven, Laura, Cunera Buijs and Pieter Hovens (eds.)
2010
Sharing Knowledge & Cultural Heritage: First Nations of the Americas, Studies in
Collaboration with Indigenous Peoples from Greenland, North and South America. Mededelingen
van het Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde 39. Leiden: Sidestone Press.
Buijs, Cunera
2003 Jaap van Zuylen, en hollænder i Østgrønland (1932-1934)
Særtryk af Tidsskriftet Grønland, nr. 5 – August 2003
Buijs, Cunera
2002 Tiderne skifter – Gerti Nooter (1930-1998) i Østgrønland.
Tidsskriftet Grønland, nr. 5, september 2002
Buijs, Cunera
2010 Related Collections, Sharing East Greenlandic Material Culture and Photographs
The National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden.
Gabriel, Mille and Jens Dahl
2008 Utimut, Past Heritage – Future Partnerships, Discussions on Repatriation in the 21st Century.
IGWIA (Document) 122. Copenhagen.
Jakobsen, Aviâja Rosing
2007 Repatriation of Greenland Cultural Heritage from Denmark to Greenland. Paper
presented at The Expert Meeting, 2007, the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden.
Peers, Laura and Alison K. Brown
2003 Museums and Source Communities. London, New York: Routledge.
Thorleifsen, Daniel
2007 The Greenland collections - Denmark and Greenland as sharing partners. Paper presented at
The Expert Meeting, 2007, the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden.
Notes:
i
The conference: Conference on Repatriation of Cultural Heritage was held in Nuuk, February 2007 hosted by Greenland
National Museum & Archives.
ii
The interviews took place in Tiniteqilaaq and Tasiilaq, East Greenland September 2009. They were filmed by Jeroen
Toirkens (camera) and Petra Sjouwerman (interviewer) and Julius B. Nielsen (interpreter).
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