Heather George

Heather George, (Kanienʼkehá:ka, Akwesasne and Euro-Canadian) is the Executive Director and Chief Curator at Woodland Cultural Centre.

Heather brings two decades of community based, Indigenous practices to her work as a mother, beader, gardener and curator.

Heather’s PhD research is examining the historical and philosophical underpinnings of contemporary museum practice specifically grounded in Haudenosaunee (Six Nations / Iroquois) philosophies.

She seeks to challenge the colonial basis of cultural preservation methods and museology and better understand how we engage with material culture to heal trauma and engage in cross-cultural dialogues.

Heather George will be speaking at the MuseumNext Forecast Summit :

Indigenous Innovations in Collections and Curatorial practices

So we have identified potentially sensitive items in our collection, now what? Join Tara Chadwick in conversation with Erma Ferrell, Heather George, Jacob Jamieson and Lee An Muntz about emerging innovations, policies and practices related to ethical collections management, acquisition, storage and use.

Across the world, our collective sensibilities are turning toward repairing and rectifying harm that has come to communities through the act of collecting, storing and transferring ownership of community held knowledge. Museums, governments, and scientific institutions are beginning to acknowledge and address these legacies while co-creating alternative processes.

The outcomes of these efforts are iterations of living documents that must have room for continual feedback, flexibility and adaptability.