When we learned that the Province was seeking public input on Heritage Conservation Act Transformation Project, we revisited a 2023 tool the ELC developed in partnership with the Tŝilhqot’in National Government and other Nations.
Protecting Indigenous Cultural Heritage Resources on Private Land provides recommendations to all levels of government in the province on how to empower Indigenous management of heritage resources. It describes legal strategies and tools that Nations have used, or could potentially use, to advance protection of Indigenous cultural heritage resources on private lands.
Cultural heritage resources may refer to ancient artifacts, burial grounds, spiritual sites, cultural practice sites, initiation sites, transformation sites, ceremonial bathing sites, and culturally significant landscapes. These resources are crucial to Indigenous Nations on many levels, but they are not properly protected in BC.
Our original report called for an overhaul of the structure, administration and implementation of the Heritage Conservation Act (HCA), including its relevant policies, to enable the meaningful participation of Indigenous Nations in the management of their cultural heritage – and the integration of Indigenous knowledge, laws, worldviews and governance/jurisdiction. Also, our guide said the revised HCA should recognize the critical importance of cultural heritage resources, and the specific relationship Nations have to their territories, places, cultural heritage resources, knowledge systems, cultures and traditions.
The current HCA engagement–which includes a survey open to all—offers a chance to support and amplify the Indigenous-led efforts on preserving and managing cultural heritage resources. These changes are essential to align the laws on managing cultural heritage resources with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a key goal of the modernization project.
We’re re-sharing our 2023 report and posting our suggested survey answers in case they’re helpful to others.
Learn more about the project and access the survey (which closes Nov 14 at 4pm) https://engage.gov.bc.ca/heritageconservationact/
🗓️ Survey closes Nov 14 at 4pm
🔗 Learn more and take the survey
