From field archaeologist to museum management

In 2025, Dr. Robert R. Janes received one of Canada's highest civilian honours when he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. The citation recognized his role in facilitating the return of sacred belongings to the Blackfoot Confederacy in the largest voluntary restitution of its kind in Canadian history. A fitting tribute to Janes’ career spanning archaeology, museum leadership, reconciliation and climate advocacy.

Over the decades, Janes has served as President and CEO of Calgary's Glenbow Museum, founded the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, authored ten books and become an internationally respected voice on the social responsibility of museums.

Yet, long before he became a museum leader, he was a young researcher pursuing a graduate degree in Archeology at the University of Calgary and very eager to understand the past. At UCalgary, he found a series of experiences, mentors, and relationships that have gone on to shape the course of his life.

An opening through archeology

When Janes arrived at UCalgary in 1970, archaeology occupied a unique place within the institution.

At the time, the Department of Archaeology was the only department in North America devoted exclusively to archaeology. Elsewhere, archaeology was generally housed within anthropology programs. At Calgary, students were encouraged to immerse themselves fully in the discipline and pursue their own intellectual interests.

Looking back, Janes describes those years as transformative.

"I can honestly say those graduate years were some of the best years of my life," he says.

The experience was largely memorable because of the opportunities that came with it. Rather than remaining confined to lecture halls and libraries, Janes found himself working on archaeological projects in some of the world's most remarkable locations.

One summer, he and his wife, Priscilla, joined a field project in the Thelon Game Sanctuary in northern Canada. Shortly afterward, they participated in excavations of the ancient city of Meroë in Sudan through a collaboration between UCalgary and the University of Khartoum.

The experience opened doors far beyond archaeology itself. While working in Sudan, they travelled through Ethiopia, Egypt, Cyprus and other parts of the region.

The mentors

As Janes explored different research interests, he benefited from a departmental culture that valued independence and exploration. A central figure in that journey was his graduate supervisor, Dr. Jane Kelley.

"She was always there to support and guide," Janes recalls, "but she allowed me complete freedom to pursue my own interests."

That freedom left a lasting impression. While many graduate students find themselves tied closely to their supervisors' research agendas, Janes was encouraged to develop his own questions and chart his own path.

Another influential mentor was Dr. Richard Forbis, one of the founders of the Department of Archaeology and Alberta's first professional archaeologist. Forbis became a mentor not only in archaeology but also in writing. He emphasized precision, clarity, and careful thinking which would prove instrumental to Janes' prolific publishing career.

Janes recalls one particularly memorable experience when Forbis returned a draft of his doctoral dissertation covered in red ink. One chapter, nearly forty-five pages long, had been crossed out entirely. Beside it was a single comment: "Completely unnecessary."

Though he laughs about it now, Janes says the experience held up one of Forbis' most enduring lessons: make every word count.

Perhaps the most consequential mentor, however, was Dr. Scott Raymond. Shortly after Janes completed his doctorate, Raymond approached him with a newspaper advertisement seeking the founding director of the first professional museum in the Northwest Territories.

Janes was hesitant because he had never worked in a museum. He was a field archaeologist. However, Raymond persisted. Eventually, Janes applied and he got the job.

That opportunity would launch a career that he had never planned and would forever shape the direction of his professional life.

Learning from the land

While conducting research for his doctoral dissertation, Janes realized that although he was studying the cultural history of the Dene people, he knew few Dene people personally. He wanted to understand more than archaeological evidence provided. He wanted to understand their lived experience.

Together, he and Priscilla moved to a small community in the Mackenzie River Valley (Northwest Territories) and joined Dene hunting families who were still living traditionally on the land.

The families he lived with showed so much humility and generosity. They taught him that leadership should emerge through competence and respect rather than authority.

"They taught me the meaning of social ecology," Janes explains. "The fact that you can't separate nature from culture. They're totally interrelated."

Those experiences became foundational to how Janes approached both his personal and professional life. Decades later, he still sees them as among the most important lessons and values he ever received.

The path into museums

After accepting the position that Dr. Raymond had encouraged him to pursue, Janes relocated to Yellowknife and became the founding Director of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.

It was the beginning of his museum career spanning decades as he transitioned into Director of the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories and then President and CEO of Calgary's Glenbow Museum from 1989 to 2000.

Over time, Janes emerged as one of Canada's leading museum thinkers, challenging institutions to rethink their role in society.

While living and working in the Northwest Territories, he witnessed Indigenous leadership integrated into everyday public life.

The experience made him particularly aware of the need for museums to strengthen relationships with Indigenous communities. At the Glenbow Museum, he worked to achieve this with the Blackfoot Confederacy, eventually leading to the return of sacred ceremonial belongings to the people, an important act of repatriation that helped move conversations toward museum responsibility and reconciliation in Canada.

In recognition of those relationships, Janes was given the traditional Blackfoot name OTAHKO OHKIPTOPii, meaning Yellow Horse, in 1995.

Museums and climate justice

Even after retiring from full-time museum leadership, Janes continued to challenge museums to engage more directly with contemporary issues.

A scholar of Subarctic archaeology by training, he went on to author seven books on museums and three on archaeology. His work has been translated into twelve languages, extending his influence far beyond Canada.

He has also served as Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Museum Management and Curatorship, a Visiting Fellow at the University of Leicester's School of Museum Studies, and founder of the Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice.

In recent years, climate change has become a central focus of his advocacy.

For Janes, museums occupy a unique position in society. They are trusted institutions, repositories of knowledge, and public gathering spaces. That combination, he believes, gives them both an opportunity and a responsibility to help communities understand complex challenges such as climate change.

"Climate change is not a political issue," he argues. "It's a scientific issue, as well as a moral one."

His efforts to encourage museums to engage with environmental challenges continue through writing, public speaking and scholarship. His forthcoming book, Museum Meditations for a Tormented World, reflects his ongoing belief that cultural institutions have a vital role to play in addressing the challenges of our time.

Advice for students

When asked what advice he would offer current students, Janes is careful not to present himself as having all the answers. The world facing today's students, he notes, is very different from the one he encountered in the 1970s.

Instead, he speaks about habits of mind.

He encourages students to cultivate personal agency, question authority, embrace complexity and become comfortable with uncertainty.

"Rock the boat," he says. "Do what you need to do if you feel something's important." 

He also urges students to look beyond the constant demands of the present and engage thoughtfully with the broader world around them.