Conference deals with authority over artifacts

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In the 1970s, a delegation from the Ktunaxa nation went to Victoria and a number of Elders were brought to view the holdings of the Royal British Columbia Museum. One Elder said she didn't want to go, because it was so sad to see the nation's cultural artifacts locked up.

"We still have that happening, but in a large way we are seeing a change. There are many examples of cooperation and collaboration. It doesn't have to be like that and it isn't going to be like that as we design our future," said Ktunaxa Chief of the St. Mary's Indian Band, Sophie Pierre. She was addressing an audience of more than 700 museum professionals attending the Designing the Future Together conference hosted by the Western Museums Association and the British Columbia Museums Association from Oct. 11 to 14 in Victoria.

Pierre said she came to the conference not as a museum professional, but a grandmother, and as someone who has been working for the people.

"The theme of this very historic conference is designing the future together, and the theme I want to bring to you is partnership. Partnering cultural heritage tourism with what's happening all around us to enhance the validity within a community. It is not just about things behind glass."

The head speaker of the conference was Robert Sam of the Coast Salish who welcomed museum delegates to Metulia, the Aboriginal name of Victoria.

"Repatriation is ver important to us," said Sam. "There are many sacred items that were displaced. Reconciliation will be working for the future."

Richard West, (southern Cheyenne and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma), director of the National Museum of the American Indian, said museums and Native people did not have a happy beginning.

"It is the explicit outright deculturalization of Native peoples of America and Canada," he said. "Objects from our culture were removed from where it belonged."

He said Native people didn't have access to the coll3ections that were taken and held in museums. The authority concerning the Native American collections rested with the museums and stayed that way for a long time. It is only recently that museums have started to think Aboriginal people should have control over the objects, a very profound shift in authority.

"Repatriation pinnacles on the tip of a far greater co-operation and partnership with Native peoples," said West.

West called for the recognition that Native peoples are not just relics of the past.

"All of us have an obligation and profound responsibility in terms of human resources to support cultural continuance. It contributes to the cultural diversity that enriches all of us."