Abstract
Inclusive and ethical stewardship of movable cultural heritage in museums and
repositories is especially important with items that are subject to repatriation procedures.
Collaborative partnerships between Indigenous communities and cultural heritage stewards
can offer creative methods to resolve issues surrounding safety, security, preservation, and
ritual treatment of these items. There is a strong global need for cross-boundary comparative
studies to identify common challenges and innovative, inclusive strategies that transcend the
variable legal landscape. In this paper, we describe case studies from California, USA and
southern Taiwan that overcame potentially conflicting situations and successfully crafted
Indigenous-led solutions to local problems. The outcomes were revitalization and reconnection
of communities with their movable cultural heritage, as well as a transferable ethos and
methods for Indigenous-centered strategies.
