TATA INSTITUTE OF SOICIAL SCIENCES, MUMBAI
'BOOK REVIEW ON '
RECLAIMING CULTURE
Indigenous People And Self Representation
: JOY HENDRY
SUBMITTED BY
Pradeep Totre
M2014DTA015
SUBMITTED TO
Prof. Biswaranjan Tripura
Centre for Social Justice and Governance, School of Social Work RECLAIMING CULTURE
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND SELF REPRESENTATION
Author – Joy Hendry Published in – Oct 2005 Publisher – Palgrave Macmillan (New York) Pages – 255
BOOK REVIEW
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The book is based on 'global fieldwork ' which, rather than relying on conventional ethnographic data collection, entailed visiting a variety of different communities and museums internationally, observing numerous cultural performances, and engaging in dialogues with many indigenous artists and activists. Most parts of the world are represented, albeit with a stronger emphasis on Canada and the USA. A lengthy section simultaneously describes the methodology and acknowledges all the people who assisted the research. This eclectic approach provides a range of comparative cases, enabling the reader to discern considerable commonality in the aims and values of many indigenous …show more content…
It underlines the importance of community cultural centres in creating opportunities for learning indigenous languages, art, craft, and performance. Pointing to a parallel growth of indigenous studies in schools, colleges, and universities, Hendry notes a commonly held belief that these also serve to educate non-indigenous people, challenging stereotypes and engendering better cross-cultural understanding. They also offer some potential for treating cultural knowledge as a marketable commodity, thus supporting the economic independence of communities. This segues into a discussion about art as an avenue for inter-cultural communication. Observing the increasing preponderance of indigenous themes in literature, radio and film, it records (as occurred in museums) a shift in control from dealer/initiator to artist. A related section considers attempts to incorporate indigenous ideas in architectural designs, as, for example, in the Danoj? Zho Cultural Centre in Dawson