Looking Several Ways

The ambivalent legacy of anthropologists' relations with local communities presents contemporary researchers with both obstacles and opportunities. No longer justifiable by assumptions of free scientific access and interpersonal rapport, research increasingly calls for explicit contract agreements and negotiated reciprocities. The complex, unfinished colonial entanglements of anthropology and Native communities are being undone and rewoven, and even the most severe indigenous critics of anthropology recognize the potential for alliances when they are based on shared resources, repositioned indigenous and academic authorities, and relations of genuine respect. This essay probes the possibilities and limits of collaborative work, focusing on recent Native heritage exhibitions in southcentral and southwestern Alaska. It also discusses the cultural politics of identity and tradition, stressing social processes of articulation, performance, and translation.