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Heritage BC
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  • About

    About

    • What We Do
    • Membership
    • Donate
    • Newsletter
    • Plans and Reports
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Careers
    • Heritage BC AGM 2025
  • Programs

    Programs

    • Heritage BC Awards
    • Conference
    • Heritage Week
    • Online Course: Community Heritage Fundamentals
    • Webinars
  • Resources

    Resources

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

    Grants

    • Heritage Legacy Fund
    • Climate Disaster Response Fund
    • Government Funded Grants
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  • Heritage 101
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    • Organizations to Know
  • Advocacy
    • A Guide to Making a Case for Heritage
    • Election Resources
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    • State of Heritage: Provincial Roundtables
    • Heritage Week
  • Accessibility for Historic Places
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    • Building Resilience and Sustainability
    • Climate Adaptation : Making A Case Resource Guide
    • Climate Adaptation: Framework and Implementation
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    • Mapping Heritage Resources
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    • Heritage Conservation Tools: Resource Guides
      • Community Heritage Commissions
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    • Conservation in BC : Reports and Factsheets
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      • Insuring Heritage Properties
    • 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
  • 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
    • Taking Action: resources for diversity and inclusion
  • Webinars On-Demand
  • Resources

Reconciliation

Heritage BC strives to integrate reconciliation into all aspects of our work as a part of our mission to support all forms of cultural heritage.

This landing page serves as a jump-off point to find resources that explore reconciliation in the context of the heritage sector, educational tools, actions that you and your organization can take, and more.


Indigenous Cultural Heritage

An introduction to Reconciliation and UNDRIP, including resources for building awareness and policies around Indigenous Cultural Heritage

Learn More

Setting the Bar: A Reconciliation Guide for Heritage

Offering a set of ten standards and calls to action to drive heritage organizations forward, beyond conversation, to archive new standards in reconciliation in the sector.

Learn More

Racism: Do Not Let the Forgetting Prevail

Guest posts recounting writers' personal experiences about racism, inclusivity and equity from a range of perspectives in BC.

Learn More

Organizations to Know

List of and link to organizations involved in work with Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Reconciliation

Learn More

Ally Toolkit

Resources to help you acknowledge the past, recognize truth and seek reconciliation.

Learn More

Commemorative Dates

June: National Indigenous History Month
June 21st: National Indigenous Peoples Day

In June, take time to recognize the rich history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples across Canada. Engage with Indigenous-created content: Attend events, watch films, listen to podcasts, read books, and have conversations with your friends, family and colleagues about what you learn.

September 30th : Orange Shirt Day

Organized by The Orange Shirt Society, Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemoration to raise awareness of the intergenerational impacts of residential schools on individuals, families and communities. Through the Orange Shirt Society’s initiative, orange shirts have come to symbolize the systemic stripping of culture, freedom, and family that Indigenous children have experienced for generations.

September 30th : The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which falls on the same day as Orange Shirt Day, is a direct response to the TRC Call to Action 80, which called for a federal statutory day of commemoration to honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that the public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.

Ways to Participate

  • On September 30th wear Orange to stand in solidarity with the Orange Shirt Society’s message “Every Child Matters”
  • Learn whose land you live on, and its history prior to settler colonial arrival
  • Educate yourself on the truth of residential schools, BC and Canada’s colonial legacy, and the many impacts these have on indigenous peoples and communities, particularly the impacts on those traditionally living in your community.
    » Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action
    » Read Phyllis’ story, the story behind Orange Shirt Day
  • Listen to those who share with you their stories and experiences :
    » Try this talk by Ry Moran, Canada’s inaugural Associate University Librarian – Reconciliation at the University of Victoria, Truth Telling as a Precursor to Reconciliation.
    » Legacy of Hope : Educational Videos – Survivors Interviews
  • Attend events in your community
    » View this BC Museums Association compiled list of virtual and in-person events across BC
  • Donate to Indigenous-led charities such as
    » The Orange Shirt Society
    » Indian Residential School Survivors Society

Organizations to Know

BC-based Organizations

» BC Treaty Commission
» First Peoples’ Cultural Council

The First Peoples’ Cultural Council is a provincial Crown Corporation formed by the government of British Columbia in 1990 to administer the First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Program.

» Indian Residential Survivor’s Society

This provincial organization has a twenty-year history of providing services to Indian Residential School Survivors.

» Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at UBC

The Centre works with partners across disciplines, at UBC and beyond, to facilitate dialogues and access to records and information that support engaging the legacies of the residential school system and the on-going impacts of colonialism in Canada

» Indigenous Tourism BC

» Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs

 

Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Actin cover

National Indigenous-Led Organizations

» Indigenous Heritage Circle

The Indigenous Heritage Circle (IHC) was founded in 2016 as an Indigenous-designed and Indigenous-led organization dedicated to the advancement of cultural heritage matters of importance to Métis, Inuit and First Nations.

» Legacy of Hope

National Indigenous charitable organization with the mandate to educate and create awareness and understanding about the Residential School System.

» Reconciliation Canada

Reconciliation Canada is leading the way in engaging Canadians in dialogue and transformative experiences that revitalize the relationships among Indigenous peoples and all Canadians.

 

National Government Branches

» Indigenous Peoples and Cultures

» Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

» Library and Archives Canada: Indigenous Heritage

» Parks Canada Agency: Indigenous Affairs Branch


Ally Toolkit

Resources to help you acknowledge the past, recognize truth and seek reconciliation.

Relationship Building
» Heritage BC Webinar: The Reality of Inclusion when Collaborating and Partnering with Indigenous Neighbours
» 23 Tips On What Not To Say Or Do When Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples
» 27 Tips On What To Say And Do When Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples
» Ayisinowak – A Communications Guide to facilitate improved relationship building
» Building Relationships with First Nations (Union of BC Municipalities publication)
» Indigenous Ally Toolkit – Produced by the Montreal Aboriginal Urban Strategy Network 
» Statement Of Guiding Principles For Presenting Indigenous Work
» Best Practices for Indigenous Engagement (Canadian Commssion for UNESCO)

Language
» Indigenous Peoples: Language Guidelines (UBC)
» First Nations Language Map (Museum of Anthropology) & Nations Map (BC region only)
» Pronunciation Guide to First Nations of BC
» Words Matter from the BC Public Service Agency

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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.