Protection of First Nations Cultural Heritage: Laws, Policy, and Reform

Abstract

Indigenous peoples around the world are seeking greater control over tangible and intangible cultural heritage. In Canada, issues concerning repatriation and trade of material culture, heritage site protection, treatment of ancestral remains, and control over intangible heritage are governed by a complex legal and policy environment.

This volume looks at the key features of Canadian, US, and international law influencing indigenous cultural heritage in Canada. Legal and extralegal avenues for reform are examined, including ethics codes, research protocols, institutional policies, human rights law, and First Nation legal orders. The book also discusses the opportunities and limits of existing frameworks and questions whether a radical shift in legal and political relations is necessary for First Nations concerns to be meaningfully addressed.

Co-edited by Catherine Bell and Robert K. Paterson, this is the companion volume to First Nations Cultural Heritage and Law: Case Studies, Voices, and Perspectives (by Catherine Bell and Val Napoleon, UBC Press, 2009).

Keywords: Canada, Indigenous peoples, Legal status, laws, Cultural property - Protection, Cultural property - Repatriation, North America