I’m Catriona, a graduate student in anthropology and museum studies, and I believe communities should have a voice in how their own history and culture are preserved and shared. This semester, I have the extraordinary chance to learn that work firsthand in Aotearoa New Zealand with Te Papa and iwi Māori, and I need help getting there.

As part of my Community Collaboration and Curation course at Indiana University Indianapolis, I will spend a week working and learning in partnership with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and iwi Māori.

For me, this isn’t simply a study-abroad trip. It’s a chance to learn firsthand how museums can work with communities rather than simply speak about them.

---Why Te Papa?

Te Papa is internationally known for its approach to working with Māori communities and supporting their role in the care, interpretation, and sharing of their own cultural heritage.

Our exact project will take shape during the semester in collaboration with our partners. That is actually part of what makes this experience so important: we aren’t arriving assuming we know what a community needs. We will listen first, learn, and contribute where our work can genuinely be useful. That is the kind of museum professional I want to become.

--- I’ve already seen what this kind of work can mean.

In 2025, I had the opportunity to work with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan at the Ziibiwing Center in Mt. Pleasant. My classmates and I helped maintain community-directed history exhibits, install an art exhibition, clean and care for delicate displays, and create archival storage for important cultural materials. The individual projects mattered, but the larger lesson mattered even more.

I saw the difference between a museum telling a community’s story about them and a community having a meaningful role in deciding how its own history, culture, and experiences are preserved and presented. That experience helped define the work I want to do with my life. New Zealand is my opportunity to take the next step.

--- Why I need help

I’m completing my Master’s in Applied Anthropology along with a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies—an unusual combination that allows me to bring together anthropology, archaeology, museums, and public engagement. Because I pay out-of-state tuition, my financial aid and savings have been exhausted. I currently work two jobs while attending graduate school, but restrictions on my outside income mean I can’t simply work enough additional hours to cover the cost of this trip. And because this opportunity comes during the final stage of my degree, it isn’t something I can postpone until someday when I can better afford it. The opportunity is here now, the missing piece is getting me there.

--- Where your contribution will go

I’m hoping to raise $6,000 to cover the costs of participating:

---What your gift really supports

A contribution isn’t just helping me buy a plane ticket. You’re helping me become the kind of museum professional our museums need more of: one who listens before speaking, works with communities rather than for them, and believes people deserve a meaningful voice in how their own stories are told.

Whether you can give $25, $50, $100, or any amount at all, I would be incredibly grateful. If contributing isn’t possible, sharing this fundraiser with someone who cares about museums, anthropology, education, Indigenous cultural heritage, or community-led history can make just as meaningful a difference.

I’ll share updates from the project so the people who helped make this possible can see what I’m learning and what their generosity helped accomplish.

Thank you for investing not just in one week in New Zealand, but in the work I hope to carry forward throughout my career.

-Catriona