Mukurtu — Reviews & Guides

Resource Type: FAQ Page

Mukurtu. “Frequently Asked Questions.” https://mukurtu.org/faqs/. Accessed May 2, 2023.

The Mukurtu FAQ page provides answers to more straightforward questions of cost, where to start, details on managing a Mukurtu site, and the support offered by the Mukurtu CMS team. Users are advised to access Mukurtu’s Support Site for more information. The final section of the FAQ page contains several scholarly articles about Mukurtu if users are interested in the history and development of the project.

This page is a helpful place for users to start if they are completely new to Mukurtu as the FAQs are organized to give users an overview of the product.

This resource can be found here.

Resource Type: Website

Mukurtu. “Mukurtu Support.” https://mukurtu.org/support/. Accessed May 2, 2023.

Mukurtu’s Support site offers many articles and videos sorted by topic and action. This page provides step-by-step training guides, including screenshots, for numerous topics, from metadata management to interface design. The site also includes informational support articles about aspects of Mukurtu’s construction, such as Traditional Knowledge labels and Digital Heritage items.

Offering greater detail than the FAQ page, the Support site is a one-stop resource for any questions a user may have getting started with Mukurtu. However, it does not offer troubleshooting. Users are directed to contact the support team via email (support@mukurtu.org) for issues that arise.

Users completely new to Mukurtu may benefit most from the Support topic Webinars and Presentations, which offers recorded webinars of an overview of Mukurtu, basics of site planning, and extended tools.

This resource can be found here.

Resource Type: Video

Mukurtu Support. “Murkurtu Support Channel.” Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/mukurtu?embedded=true&source=owner_name&owner=48123642. Accessed May 2, 2023.

The videos on the Mukurtu Support Vimeo channel are linked within various articles on the Support site. This Vimeo channel hosts numerous tutorials correlated to the topics on the Support site.

Users looking specifically for video tutorials may choose to access Mukurtu Support directly from the Vimeo channel. However, the training guides and support articles found on the Support Site may provide necessary additional information.

This resource can be found here.

Resource Type: Website

Mukurtu. “Mukurtu Hubs and Spokes.” https://mukurtu.org/mukurtu-hubs-and-spokes/. Accessed May 2, 2023.

‘Hubs’ are regionally-based centres which provide support to community-based ‘Spokes’–Mukurtu users. As of early 2023, there are five established and two upcoming Region Hubs with dozens of Community Spokes within each.

The Region Hubs are listed on the Hubs and Spokes page with a selection of Community Spokes listed on the same page. While the Mukurtu CMS team remains available for assistance, users are encouraged to reach out to their Region Hubs directly who may be able to provide region-specific resources and support.

This page is also useful for users looking to connect with other Mukurtu users within their region.

This resource can be found here.

Resource Type: Academic Article

Carney, M., Diedrich, M., Blong, J. C., d’Alpoim Guedes, J., Fulkerson, T. J., Kite, T., Leonard-Doll, K., LeCompte-Mastenbrook, J., Zimmermann, M., and Tushingham, S. 2022. “Northwest Native Plants: A Digital Space for Paleoethnobotanical Knowledges and Biocultural Heritage.” Heritage, 5(1): 297-310. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5010016.

Northwest Native Plants:
A Digital Space for Paleoethnobotanical Knowledges and Biocultural Heritage

Abstract:

“Biocultural heritage preservation relies on ethnobotanical knowledge and the paleoethnobotanical data used in (re)constructing histories of human–biota interactions. Biocultural heritage, defined as the knowledge and practices of Indigenous and local peoples and their biological relatives, is often guarded information, meant for specific audiences and withheld from other social circles. As such, these forms of heritage and knowledge must also be included in the ongoing data sovereignty discussions and movement. In this paper we share the process and design decisions behind creating an online database for ethnobotanical knowledge and associated paleoethnobotanical data, using a content management system designed to foreground Indigenous and local perspectives. Our main purpose is to suggest that the Mukurtu content management system, originally designed for physical items of cultural importance, be considered as a potential tool for digitizing and ethically circulating biocultural heritage, including paleoethnobotanical resources. With this database, we aim to create access to biocultural heritage and paleoethnobotanical considerations for a variety of audiences while also respecting the protected and sensitive natures of Indigenous and local knowledges.”

This article can be found here.

Resource Type: Magazine Article

Machulak, E. 2020. “Mukurtu: A Digital Platform That Does More Than Manage Content.” Humanities, 41(4). https://www.neh.gov/article/mukurtu-digital-platform-does-more-manage-content.

Mukurtu: A Digital Platform That Does More Than Manage Content

Abstract:

“Kim Christen, the director of the Digital Technology and Culture Program at Washington State University, has developed a tool for Indigenous people to recast cultural materials within their own experiences and histories. Mukurtu, a digital access platform for managing and curating cultural heritage materials, has developed from a decades long dialogue with community partners about how to build digital tools around well-established expectations for how cultural heritage should be kept and shared. Christen and her team spent years working with the community to develop a tool that could meet these standards, and they came up with an alpha version that enabled community members to determine who could see and interact with materials. Michael Wynne, digital applications librarian at Washington State University, gives the example of a basket created by a member of the Warm Springs Tribe and physically held at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.”

This article can be found here.

Resource Type: Academic Article

Christen Withey, K. 2015. “Sovereignty, Repatriation, and the Archival Imagination: Indigenous Curation and Display Practices.” Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, 11(2): 115-138. https://www.kimchristen.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ChristenWithey_1102Collections.pdf.

Sovereignty, Repatriation, and the Archival Imagination:
Indigenous Curation and Display Practices

Abstract:

“Sovereignty is an often invoked, yet notoriously misunderstood and misused term in relation to the political, territorial, cultural and eco- nomic needs, aspirations, and goals of Indigenous peoples living in post-colonial settler states. Archives were established as places where official records became anchors for nations in the making as they documented the accepted demise of their first peoples. As a result, the archival imagination is both a process of political work and ideological maneuvering. In the post-colonial imagination, archives have become hotbeds for revising the historical fictions and fantasies that allowed for the erasure and presumed demise of Indigenous peoples. As archives shift to include Indigenous voices, and as Indigenous archives assert their own prominence in the landscape, the archival imagination ex- pands. This article analyzes the emergent archival imagination through the lens of sovereignty, repatriation movements, and digital technolo- gies to expose the place of Indigenous rights, histories, and imagina- tions in the practical work of archives in post-colonial settler states. Using examples from my own collaborations in the United States and Canada with Indigenous communities and my work as the director of Mukurtu CMS, I examine how multiple stakeholders grapple with and infuse archival practices, tools, and work with the many nuances of sovereignty.”

This article can be found here.

Resource Type: Wiki

GitHub. “mukurtucms.”MukurtuCMS. https://github.com/MukurtuCMS/mukurtucms/wiki. Accessed May 2, 2023.

The Mukurtu Wiki hosted by GitHub provides detailed information relating to coding and web-development aspects of Mukurtu, including installation, site administration, and development.

Site and system administrators will likely find this Wiki most helpful.

This resource can be found here.