Weaving worlds, colliding traditions : collaborating with Musqueam weaver and educator Debra Sparrow

• Main Author: Baird, Jill Rachel
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The University of British Columbia 1997
• Subjects: Weaver; First Nations
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0055015; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0055015

This thesis provides a description and analysis of the process of developing a museum education programme at the UBC Museum of Anthropology (MOA). The programme Debra Sparrow: Weaving Two Worlds Together was developed collaboratively with Musqueam weaver, artist, and educator Debra Sparrow and myself, Jill Baird. At the time, I was temporary Education Coordinator at MOA between December 1993 and June 1995. The case study of this collaboration process is presented from the perspective of myself and Debra Sparrow and examines the working relationships and different individual cultural assumptions which we experienced in our collaboration. It also explores the evolving relationships between collaborators, and the institutions and communities each represents. The thesis contributes to the gap in the literature on museum and education collaborations by documenting the process, integrating theory and praxis, and stimulating the discussion within the discourses of museology and education on collaboration and change. More importantly, it illustrates that First Nations and non-First Nations museum workers can work together in a way which respects each other's world views.