4 days ago
Michelle Good: HBC Artifacts Must Not Be Put Up For Sale
By Michelle Good, Contributor
Michelle Good is the author of 'Five Little Indians,' a novel about the survivors of residential schools and the effects of their experience on subsequent generations. She wrote it in answer to the question people often ask about survivors: 'Why can't they just get over it?' The book has won almost every major literary prize in the country. She is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation.
It is deeply disturbing that a court of law would permit the sale of thousands of artifacts held by the Hudson's Bay without any meaningful consideration for the fact that many of these may have deep cultural and spiritual significance to Indigenous peoples.
In 2021, Canada adopted the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Article 11.1 establishes the nature and scope of that right and defines it as including '… the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, (and) artefacts …'. Article 11.2 creates and imposes a duty on states to 'provide redress through effective mechanisms, which may include restitution, developed in conjunction with indigenous peoples, with respect to their cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their free, prior and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs.'
