Decolonising Collection Management in an Indigenous Ritual House in Malaysia

In  this  chapter,  I  critically  examine  the  perspectives  and  treatment  of  human  remains  in  an  Indigenous  ritual  house,  based  on  the  case  study  of the Monsopiad Cultural Village, an Indigenous museum in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah. I do so to make a case for the need to consider the  multiple  museologies  that  exist  in  non-Western  contexts,  especially  the different Indigenous approaches and practices that exist in non-settler contexts. In what follows, I explore the socio-cultural contexts surrounding the acquisition and display of these human remains and consider how the Monsopiad Cultural Village draws on vernacular beliefs and practices in the management and interpretation of the ritual house and its collection of heirlooms, focusing on alternative approaches to the treatment of human remains, and the stipulation of certain ritual observance on visitors to the ritual  house.  In  so  doing,  I  also  show  how  such  Indigenous  approaches  to  the  care,  management  and  interpretation  of  the  ritual  house  and  its  collection  is  a  manifestation  of  Indigenous  survivance,  which  can  offer  a route to self-representation and self-determination for the Indigenous Kadazan people in contemporary Malaysia.