New Director of Indigenous Engagement and Reconciliation at Glenbow

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Amber Shilling (courtesy the Glenbow museum, Calgary)

Amber Shilling has joined the Glenbow Museum in Calgary as director of Indigenous engagement and reconciliation, a newly created role. 

“I remember visiting the Glenbow on a school field trip in elementary school and feeling a sense of wonder as I saw one of the displays about Indigenous people,” says Shilling. “Looking back, I can appreciate how profoundly museums can impact one’s understanding of cultural identity and what it means to be Indigenous. This is one aspect of the work I am very excited about.”

Shilling is Anishinaabe from Mnjikaning First Nation in Ontario on her father’s side and Polish/English on her mother’s. She was born and raised in Treaty 7 territory in southern Alberta. Shilling recently completed her PhD at the University of British Columbia, researching how urban Indigenous youth use technology to engage with culture and language.

In her new role, Shilling will “help build on Glenbow’s legacy of collaboration with Indigenous communities and expand on these relationships in meaningful ways,” says the museum’s CEO, Nicholas Bell.

“We are in a shifting moment, and we have an opportunity at Glenbow to develop the future of the museum and everything we do with the collaboration of Indigenous people in a respectful relationship,” says Shilling. 

“And that, to me, is the action of reconciliation.”

Source: Glenbow