The Canadian Museums Association is urging Ottawa to move ahead with funding, legislation and a strategy to support Indigenous-led reconciliation in museums across the country.
The association's call comes in a long-awaited report aimed at advancing Indigenous self-determination in the museum sector.
The report responds to a call to action in the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015 that museums comply with the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The report, funded by the federal government, has taken five years to complete.
The report, Moved to Action: Activating UNDRIP in Museums, makes 10 recommendations, including:
- Bolster financial support for Indigenous cultural centres, Indigenous-led national heritage organizations and Indigenous-led commemorative activities.
- Revise the national museum policy and museums assistance program.
- Enact strong legislation to support the repatriation of Indigenous belongings and ancestors.
"Our field has a deep legacy of colonization and there's a lot of relationship repairing that needs to be done," says the association's president, Heather George. "This report is an important tool to support this work."
"The report highlights the importance of self-determination of Indigenous peoples in museum spaces," she said. "Our understanding of history is richer when Indigenous peoples have authority over their representations."
The report also details 30 ways museums can support reconciliation, such as recognizing Indigenous intellectual sovereignty over all materials created by or about them, and repatriating not only ancestral remains and cultural belongings, but also materials such as photographs, maps, archival documents and recordings.
The association expressed hope the report will be "strongly considered" in upcoming discussions with the Department of Canadian Heritage about a new national museums policy.
Source: Canadian Museums Association