9. Setting the Bar: Statements of Significance and other heritage planning documents

ACTIONS:

We will work with Indigenous cultural experts when preparing a Statement of Significance and other heritage planning documents.

We will re-write existing Statements of Significance and other heritage planning documents to include Indigenous perspectives, working with an Indigenous cultural expert.

Download 9. Setting the Bar: Statements of Significance and Heritage Documents

Long used to described tangible heritage, Statements of Significance and other heritage planning documents need to evolve so that the Indigenous perspective is normalized in the research and writing phases. Adopting the “not about us, without us” principle, the Indigenous perspective must be welcomed and appropriately informed.

Acknowledging challenges exist in incorporating Indigenous worldviews within cultural heritage management and decision-making processes, the First Peoples’ Cultural Council reminds us “the millennia-long occupation and use of land of indigenous people should be the fundamental context and starting point for historic places recognition.”

This section is directly drawn from “Recommendations for Decolonizing British Columbia’s Heritage-Related Processes and Legislation”, published by First Peoples’ Cultural Council in 2020.