Revisiting the Relationship between Indigenous Agency and Museum Inventories: An Object-Centered Study of the Formation of Lübeck's Jacobsen Collection (1884/1885) from the Northwest Coast of America

The starting point of this thesis is the Jacobsen collection of the Völkerkundesammlung der Hansestadt Lübeck (Ethnographic Collection of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Germany) – around 220 objects stemming from a larger collection, which was assembled by the Norwegian brothers Bernard Fillip (1864 – 1935) and Johan Adrian Jacobsen (1853 – 1947) along the Northwest Coast of America, especially among the First Nations of present-day coastal British Columbia in 1884 and 1885. This collecting trip was commissioned by Carl Hagenbeck (1844 – 1913), who hired the brothers to recruit a Northwest Coast group for his next Völkerschau (ethnic or people’s show) through the German Empire. At the same time, the brothers were asked to compile a collection that was presented as an ethnographic side-show during the Bella-Coola-Völkerschau resulting from this journey. As a contribution to the current academic discourse on museum practices in relation to colonial collections, this thesis entails the...Show moreThe starting point of this thesis is the Jacobsen collection of the Völkerkundesammlung der Hansestadt Lübeck (Ethnographic Collection of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Germany) – around 220 objects stemming from a larger collection, which was assembled by the Norwegian brothers Bernard Fillip (1864 – 1935) and Johan Adrian Jacobsen (1853 – 1947) along the Northwest Coast of America, especially among the First Nations of present-day coastal British Columbia in 1884 and 1885. This collecting trip was commissioned by Carl Hagenbeck (1844 – 1913), who hired the brothers to recruit a Northwest Coast group for his next Völkerschau (ethnic or people’s show) through the German Empire. At the same time, the brothers were asked to compile a collection that was presented as an ethnographic side-show during the Bella-Coola-Völkerschau resulting from this journey. As a contribution to the current academic discourse on museum practices in relation to colonial collections, this thesis entails the reconstruction of the provenances of these objects, from their production contexts up to the acquisition of the Jacobsen collection by Lübeck’s former Ethnological Museum from the Hamburg J. F. G. Umlauff firm in 1904. Accordingly, this research considers Indigenous agency within the production and circulation networks that have enabled the formation of Lübeck’s Jacobsen collection. The application of various theoretical approaches dealing with materiality and hybridity, alongside examinations of historical records, especially contemporary newspaper articles and documents pertaining to Adrian Jacobsen, frame this analysis of Indigenous participation opportunities within the collection’s history. The various dimensions of this collection history are demonstrated with the help of object-centered case studies. The question after the Indigenous scope of action hereby illustrates that the creator communities of the Jacobsen collected employed various strategies to negotiate the dimensions of the flow of artefacts to Western institutions and that their position within these processes cannot be reduced to passively meeting the demands of European and American collectors. At the same time, the area of conflict, resulting from settler colonialism in the area and bearing vast negative consequences for Canada’s Indigenous population, is equally relevant. This thesis therefore strives towards critically engaging with colonial provenance research and bringing forward the underrepresented Indigenous perspectives and experiences manifested in the materiality of Lübeck’s Jacobsen collection.Show less

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Revisiting the Relationship between Indigenous Agency and Museum Inventories: An Object-Centered Study of the Formation of Lübeck's Jacobsen Collection (1884/1885) from the Northwest Coast of America