Museums pressured to return artifacts

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As more and more reserve-based museums dedicated to the traditional art of their own band are springing up all across Canada, more pressure is being brought to bear on museums to return Native artifacts to their original owners.

Museums, which collected artifacts, some as long ago as 200 years or more, are now feeling this pressure as Native organizations lobby for the repatriation of ancient items.

And emotions are running high.

Roy Little Chief, a Blackfoot band member and once a militant leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM), says he is concerned that many items were stolen from their owners.

"Like the things coming into Glenbow from overseas. Many of these things are very old and we have lost the original way of making them," he said in a recent interview.

But there are instances when items have been returned. The Glenbow museum has been working closely with Native groups in southern Alberta for many years and some objects have been "donated" back to the band says Curator Assistant Liza Churchill.

"We recently returned some items to the Blood band and a copy of a tipi-liner has been returned to the Sarcee band,"says Churchill.

The original, tipi-liner which is about 70 years old, is still in the possession of the museum, however, the museum hired a Native artist to copy the liner for exhibition in Expo '86. The copy has now been donated to the Sarcee Peoples' Museum based on the Sarcee reserve, west of Calgary.

Churchill adds that she has received several requests from band members for the return of some artifacts but points out that all repatriation must be approved by the Glenbow's board of directors. However, Edmonton's Provincial Museum has a much better record of repatriation of Native artifacts providing the band agrees to certain guidelines, says Curator Eric Waterton.

"We would have no problem dealing with band-run museums. In fact we would like to encourage it. But the problem often is that in many cases the bundles are looked after traditionally which is not necessarily the best way to preserve the item over time," said Waterton in a recent interview.

Waterton points out that the right amount of light and humidity is essential for the preservation of old items and that can only be controlled in a museum setting.

"We have a public trust, the items we have are for the benefit of all Albertans and so returned items must be available for view by the public," he said.

The museum has also loaned ceremonial and religious items for certain societies and Sundances over the past few years, explains Waterton.

"In one case a medicine bundle has been routinely returned to the last three or four years," he added.

Waterton points out that the official stand is not a dispute over ownership but rather access. He adds that some agreement with bands, particularly the Blood band located near Cardston, have been made. The items returned were mainly ceremonial artifacts used for the Horn Society.

However, the dispute over the ownership may be all academic as the repatriation of these artifacts could be rendered impossible because of a recent provincial law.

The provincial act is called the Foreign Cultural Property Immunity Act and it was passed in 1985. The act provides protection for materials and can be used when ownership of artifacts is in dispute.

Glenbow Director Duncan Cameron confirmed that the act was currently in use for the museum for the "Spirit Sings" exhibition due to take place for the Calgary Winter Games in 1988.

However, Cameron added that Glenbow had a "good track record" for the return of sacred objects.