Digital repatriation: virtual museum partnerships with indigenous peoples

The University of Texas and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian have had experience working together on virtual museum projects that bring indigenous people to the museum for the purpose of "digitally repatriating" important cultural items. The initial virtual museum project provided a strategy for cultural responsive teaching in American Indian schools. They also provided a forum for cultural revitalization and cultural collaboration. The university and the museum are developing proposals to further develop the digital repatriation concept to include more tribal community participation and international indigenous participation.