Fragments of culture often become commodities when the tourism and heritage business showcases local artistic and cultural practice. And frequently, this industry develops without the consent of those whose culture is commercialized. What does this say about appropriation, social responsibility, and intercultural relationships? And what happens when communities become more involved in this cultural marketplace?

Incorporating Culture examines how Indigenous artists and entrepreneurs are cultivating more equitable relationships with the companies that reproduce their designs on everyday objects, slowly modifying a capitalist market to make room for Indigenous values and principles.

Moving beyond an interpretation of cultural commodification as necessarily exploitative, Solen Roth discusses how communities can treat culture as a resource in a way that nurtures rather than depletes it. She deftly illustrates the processes by which Indigenous people have been asserting control over the Northwest Coast art industry by reshaping it to reflect local models of property, relationships, and economics.

Solen Roth's profile page

• Short-listed, Society for Economic Anthropology Book Prize, Society for Economic Anthropology
• Commended, Council for Museum Anthropology Book Award, Council for Museum Anthropology
• Winner, K.D. Srivastava Prize for Excellence in Scholarly Publishing, UBC Press
• Short-listed, Basil Stuart-Stubbs Prize, UBC Library

Solen Roth is a cultural anthropologist currently working as a post-doctoral researcher at the Université de Montréal School of Design. She has published in the Journal of Material Culture and Collaborative Anthropologies, and contributed to Jennifer Kramer’s Ḱesu’: The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer. From 2010 to 2016, she co-chaired the Commodification of Cultural Heritage working group for the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage research project at Simon Fraser University.

Incorporating Culture: How Indigenous People are Reshapingthe Northwest Coast Art Industry takes a fresh look at Northwest Coast art through the exploration of economic, legal, and social issues.

RACAR

[Incorporating Culture] will resonate with those interested in the confluence of Indigenous artware and tourist souvenir markets throughout the world. [...] All readers will benefit from time spent with this well-told story of cultural adaptation and change, particularly because it refutes notions of Indigenous erasure and, instead, emphasises Indigenous resiliency.

Anthropologica