Unsettling Native Art Histories on the Northwest Coast (Native Art of the Pacific Northwest: A Bill Holm Center)

Review
"The volume exemplifies respectful and relational engagement with Indigenous art and advocates for more accountable scholarship and practices."―New Books Network
"The many stories and essays in Unsettling Native Art Histories provided me with valuable new teachings and perspectives. I recommend it highly to people of diverse interests in the fields of art, anthropology, history, ethnology, and contemporary Indigenous issues."―The Ormsby Review
"[A]n enjoyable source to learn about emerging research and writers in its field... For humanities scholars attuned to material culture, museum practitioners, and Indigenous art enthusiasts more broadly, the book is generous in ideas and exemplars to better understand ancestral and current arts holistically and to set new directions for engagement at museums and galleries."―Journal of Folklore Research
"Exemplifying the Indigenous methodologies of respect, reciprocity, and relationality, this book is a model for art historians, curators, and other scholars who want to develop more ethical relationships with the communities whose belongings they store, care for, and study, and is highly recommended for anyone who wants to learn from stories of Indigenous lives enriched by renewed relationships with their ancestral belongings."―Western Historical Quarterly
"[A] valuable contribution to the growing body of scholarship working to center Indigenous voices in Northwest Coast art studies... This volume will certainly become a classic and is an excellent learning tool and essential library addition for anyone interested in Indigenous studies, museum practice, or Northwest Coast art history."―First American Art Magazine
"Given that the apprehension of Northwest Coast Native art is an ever-evolving process, these essays provide readers with an urgently required snapshot of dynamiccontemporary strategies."―American Indian Culture & Research Journal
"An example for scholars, in this and related fields, of the kinds of insight and exchange that can emerge when a diversity of voices and different frames of reference are juxtaposed."―Charlotte Townsend-Gault, coeditor of Native Art of the Northwest Coast: A History of Changing Ideas
"A welcome addition to Northwest Coast art historical scholarship."―Alan Hoover, author of Southern Northwest Coast Indigenous Canoe Racing: A Brief History
"Unsettling Native Art Histories on the Northwest Coast is a definitive collection of writings that bring a conscious narrative of the past, present and future of Indigenous art. This collection of essays illustrates the thriving cultures that unsettle, entertain, inform, and challenge how art and culture from this diverse region are viewed and understood."―Sonny Assu, Interdisciplinary artist, Ligwiłda'xw of the Kwakwaka'wakw nations
"Unsettling Native Art Histories on the Northwest Coast models best practices for Indigenous art studies―and for Indigenous studies broadly. Together, accomplished Native and non-Native curators, scholars, and artist-intellectuals innovate methodological approaches while confronting ongoing legacies of settler colonialisms and academic appropriations. As a bonus, the book is beautifully designed and illustrated."―Chadwick Allen, author of Trans-Indigenous: Methodologies for Global Native Literary Studies
Inseparable from its communities, Northwest Coast art functions aesthetically and performatively beyond the scope of non-Indigenous scholarship, from demonstrating kinship connections to manifesting spiritual power. Contributors to this volume foreground Indigenous understandings in recognition of this rich context and its historical erasure within the discipline of art history.
By centering voices that uphold Indigenous priorities, integrating the expertise of Indigenous knowledge holders about their artistic heritage, and questioning current institutional practices, these new essays "unsettle" Northwest Coast art studies. Key themes include discuss