Colonial history in Canada has resulted in significant cultural losses for Indigenous peoples; several commissions of inquiry have demonstrated this, notably the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which describes this dynamic of cultural genocide. Today Indigenous communities are extremely concerned about the safeguarding of their remaining cultural heritage. Every effort is being made to identify, document, protect, transmit and value Indigenous knowledge, skills and artifacts, as well as the land in which this culture is rooted and from which these cultural components are derived, including traditional sacred sites.
Yet, the processes of heritage recognition and the implementation of protection statuses for these sacred sites are very complex and not well known by our communities.
At the invitation of the UNESCO Chair —For the Transmission of First Peoples’ Culture to Foster Well-Being and Empowerment, Innuat from Uashat mak Mani-Utenam and Atikamekw from Manawan in Quebec, and representatives of the Nehirowisiwok Nation from Lytton and Spuzzum in British-Columbia, shared the goals, achievements, challenges and successes of their approaches in order to identify best practices likely to help in the protection and valorization of Indigenous sacred sites. External collaborators were also invited to share their specific experiences.
This site is intended to be a practical guide anchored in real action projects involving various means and statuses to ensure Indigenous cultural preservation.
Virtual meetings allowed us to have very rich discussions on the meaning of the terms "sacred sites" or "sacred places" often used by Indigenous leaders to name their territory.
The content of these discussions was transcribed and organized into themes by Elisabeth Kaine (Huron-Wendat) to create a set of definitions that brought together the remarks of all three partner nations.
It was based on this material that all the partners present at the meeting held in Uashat mak Mani-Utenam in November 2021 were able to validate, enrich and organize the contents to make a website reflecting their common vision. They also defined the visual aspects and the aesthetics of the site during this same meeting.
In November 2021, 3 Indigenous partner groups from across Canada met in Uashat mak Mani-Utenam, Quebec to discuss ways to protect their ancestral lands.
