Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore the key challenges for Indian museums to effectively engage with Indigenous communities. Museums showcase Indigenous cultures, but many of them often overlook the appropriate inclusion of Indigenous community members and their voices and languages. The museum atmosphere is dominated by the non-Indigenous personnel interpreting Indigenous cultures. It precludes the intergenerational transmission of Indigenous knowledge, perpetuating the dilution and loss of Indigenous cultures and identities over time. Nearly 8.6% of the Indian population, or 104 million, is Indigenous. This article argues for the urgent need for Indian museums to embrace linguistic and cultural diversity, ensuring that Indigenous voices and perspectives are integrated into museum narratives through active participation. This paves the way for museums to become inclusive and benchmark their transformations as envisaged in the new definition of the International Council of Museums. The conclusions of this article could also be considered more globally, as few museums in the world with Indigenous collections have addressed rethinking community cultural engagement.