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Heritage BC
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  • About

    About

    • What We Do
    • Membership
    • Our Advocacy
    • Newsletter
    • Donate
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Plans and Reports
    • Sponsors
  • Events & Activities

    Events & Activities

    • Heritage BC Conference 2023
    • BC Heritage Awards
    • Heritage Week 2023
    • Dates to Know
  • Learning Centre

    Learning Centre

    • Heritage 101
    • Advocacy
    • Accessibility for Historic Places
    • Climate & Sustainability
    • Heritage Place Conservation
    • Heritage Policy & Legislation
    • Homeowners
    • Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • Non-For-Profit Organizations
    • Reconciliation
    • Webinars On-Demand
  • Cultural Maps

    Cultural Maps

    • Mapping Heritage Resources
    • Submerged Heritage Resources Map
    • Columbia Basin Region Historic Places Map
    • Francophone Historic Places Map
    • Chinese Canadian Historic Places Map
    • Japanese Canadian Historic Places Map
    • South Asian Canadian Historic Places Map
    • War Monuments and Memorials Map
    • Industrial Heritage Cultural Map
  • Funding

    Funding

    • Heritage Legacy Fund
    • Government Funded Grants
    • Climate Disaster Response Fund
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Additional Funding Resources
    • Grant Writing Webinar
  • News
  • Professional Development

    Professional Development

    • Educational Opportunities
    • Job Hunting Resources
    • Submit a Job
    • Job Board
    • Annual Conference
    • Professional Organizations
  • Contact
  • Heritage 101
    • Heritage Quick Studies
    • Definitions and Heritage FAQs
    • Organizations to Know
  • Advocacy
    • A Guide to Making a Case for Heritage
    • Election Resources
    • Reports : Heritage Conservation in BC
    • State of Heritage: Provincial Roundtables
    • Heritage Week
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    • Building Resilience and Sustainability
    • Climate Adaptation : Making A Case Resource Guide
    • Climate Adaptation: Framework and Implementation
    • Seismic Risk & British Columbia’s Historic Streetscapes
  • Heritage Place Conservation
    • Heritage Conservation Tools: Resource Guides
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      • Community Heritage Register
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      • Heritage Revitalization Agreements
    • Conservation in BC : Reports and Factsheets
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    • Publications on Heritage Place Conservation Practices
  • Heritage Policy & Legislation
    • Heritage Legislation in BC
    • Local Government: Library of Source Documents
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  • Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Resource Guide
    • ICH: Creating a Community-Based Inventory
  • Non-For-Profit Organizations
    • Organizational Capacity Building
    • Heritage Tourism
    • A Compendium of Tips and Information for Governance, Management and NFP Operations
  • Reconciliation
    • Indigenous Cultural Heritage
    • Setting the Bar: A Reconciliation Guide for Heritage
      • 1. Heritage and Reconciliation Pledge
      • 2. Acknowledging Land and People
      • 3. Celebrating Days of Recognition and Commemoration
      • 4. With a Commitment to Learn
      • 5. Committing to Strategic Organizational Diversity
      • 6. Mission-Making Room for Reconciliation
      • 7. Possession, Interpretation, Repatriation and Cultural Care
      • 8. Shared Decision Making
      • 9. Statements of Significance and other heritage planning documents
      • 10. Heritage Conservation Tools, Local Government Act
    • Racism: Do Not Let the Forgetting Prevail
      • Erasure 2.0: Gatekeepers
      • Why should we remember?  The legacy of remembrance
      • Racism is like an addiction
      • Black Lives Do Matter
      • The Powerful Position of Learning
      • Beyond Acknowledgement to Diversity and Inclusion
      • Erasure: A Statement on Racism, Inclusivity and Equity
      • Taking Action: resources for diversity and inclusion
  • Webinars On-Demand
  • Learning Centre
  • Reconciliation

Indigenous Cultural Heritage

Indigenous Peoples understand and describe “heritage” according to their own perspectives, traditions and languages. A general definition for Indigenous heritage would include ideas, experiences, worldviews, objects, forms of expressions, practices, knowledge, spirituality, kinship ties and places valued by Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous heritage is intrinsic to Indigenous well-being and held for all generations.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission marked a critical moment in Canadian history with the release of the 94 Calls to Action. These prompt each one of us to act and to reframe the familiar and comfortable contexts of our work as heritage professionals. It is now time to move the conversation forward as we explore authentic, sustainable pathways that will lead to new relationships and common goals and objectives.

Heritage BC is committed to heritage in all its forms. We recognize there is much to learn from each other, as we start to more fully appreciate the diversity of experiences and the multiplicity of perspectives that form the richness of Canada’s heritage.

The word “heritage” has no parallels in Indigenous languages, but the closest meaning is something that would be a translation of the expression “what we know”.

Based on discussions at IHC roundtables, the IHC describes Indigenous cultural heritage as ideas, objects, artistic expressions, practices, languages, knowledge and places that are valued because they are culturally necessary and meaningful, connected to shared memory, or linked to collective identity. Indigenous cultural heritage is not separate from Indigenous identity and life. It is inherited from ancestors as a gift to the next generations. It is the medicine we carry with us.

Each Indigenous Nation speaks for cultural heritage that is unique to them.

– Quote prepared by Karen Aird, Indigenous Heritage Circle

Indigenous Cultural Heritage Resources

Policies & DocumentsCover of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act 2019/2020 Annual Report from the Government of British Columbia

  • Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act 2019-2020 Annual Report, Province of BC
  • First Nations Heritage Conservation Action Plan (First Nations Leadership Council)
  • Guide to Heritage Stewardship for Yukon First Nation Governments
  • A Selected Review of Federal and Provincial Legislation Implicating Indigenous Heritage in British Columbia (First Peoples’ Cultural Council, 2022)
  • Heritage Toolkit (First Peoples’ Cultural Council)
  • Indigenous Heritage and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Indigenous Heritage Circle, May 2022)
    This report is also available in French , ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ nēhiyawēwin (Plains Cree), ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ (Inuktut), and Mi’kmawi’simk (Mi’kmaq language).
  • Indigenous Living Heritage Canada – Approaches to Recognizing and Safeguarding ICH (CCUNESCO 2020)
  • Lower Nicola Indian Band Cultural Heritage Policy
  • Management of Culturally Sensitive Materials (Museum of Anthropology)
  • Report on Indigenous Gatherings on Cultural Heritage (2019)
  • World Heritage and Indigenous Peoples : Operational Guidelines (UNESCO)

 


Reconciliation

“Collective efforts from all peoples are necessary to revitalize the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and Canadian society – reconciliation is the goal. It is a goal that will take the commitment of multiple generations but, when it is achieved, when we have reconciliation – it will make for a better, stronger Canada.”
– Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Reconciliation is about taking an honest and open-minded view of our history in BC to work towards inclusion and equality for all, and to establish respectful relationships among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Reconciliation involves a humble recognition of the impacts of the colonial past, and the deep history and relationships that Indigenous people have on their lands. With that awareness and a spirit of cooperation, reconciliation offers the opportunity to change behaviour and bring healing.

Reconciliation is acknowledging, learning, listening and acting. It is doing the work required to bring equality and restitution.

Heritage BC recognizes reconciliation will not be achieved through a single process, but through an ongoing commitment to make things better through a range of actions that are carefully developed according to the needs and circumstances of each situation. Heritage BC believes we have a significant role to play in reconciliation: we aspire to create new partnerships to tell new, more inclusive stories.

Reconciliation Resources

Green and black frog in Indigenous West Coast style.
  • Decolonizing Heritage Processes and Legislation, published by First Peoples’ Cultural Council
  • Taking Reconcili-Action : A website, teacher’s guide, and resource guide to help classes create powerful reconciliation projects that will establish meaningful connections with members of the Indigenous community.
  • Recognizing and Including Indigenous Cultural Heritage in B.C. : FPCC Policy Paper
  • Best Practices for Indigenous Engagement
  • 15-Point Guide: Standards of Achievement for the Relationship between Indigenous Peoples & Cultural Institutions in Canada

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

According to the UN, UNDRIP is “…is the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of indigenous peoples. It establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world and it elaborates on existing human rights standards and fundamental freedoms as they apply to the specific situation of indigenous peoples.”

Cultural and intangible heritage is a key part of this framework, and the heritage sector working towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is an important part of the implementation of UNDRIP.

The Government of British Columbia has committed to adopting and implementing UNDRIP. More information on BC’s principles and policies can be found here.

Learn More about UNDRIP

  • United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for Indigenous Adolescents
  • FAQ on the Declaration on The Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues).
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As an organization of provincial scope, Heritage BC recognizes that its members, and the local history and heritage they seek to preserve, occupy the lands and territories of B.C.’s Indigenous peoples. Heritage BC asks its members and everyone working in the heritage sector to reflect on the places where they reside and work, and to respect the diversity of cultures and experiences that form the richness of our provincial heritage.