Abstracts
Abstract
For more than one hundred years Canada’s national museum of human history, called, successively, the National Museum of Canada, the National Museum of Man, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and, most recently, the Canadian Museum of History, has documented and assembled a record of intangible cultural heritage relating to various cultural groups. Originally collected and currently preserved under legislative mandates resting on broad assumptions about the public interest, this material includes a substantial body of narrative, song and information relating to both past and contemporary cultural practice of societies indigenous to Canada. This paper explores the issues for concepts of nationhood, knowledge and the public interest raised by the contractual agreements, legislation on topics ranging from copyright to family law, treaty negotiations between Aboriginal people and the Government of Canada, and consultation concerning different cultural definitions of property and the sacred that affect day-to-day access to and use of Aboriginal intangible heritage in the museum. Finally, the paper explores potential issues for the continuation of this work raised by the museum’s narrowing of focus and mandate as it changes from the Canadian Museum of Civilization to the Canadian Museum of History.
Résumé
Depuis plus d’un siècle, le musée national canadien d’histoire humaine, qui s’est appelé successivement le Musée national du Canada, le Musée national de l’Homme, le Musée canadien des civilisations et, depuis peu, le Musée canadien de l’histoire, a documenté et rassemblé des archives de patrimoine culturel immatériel en lien avec différents groupes culturels. À l’origine recueilli puis conservé en fonction de mandats législatifs reposant sur de larges principes relatifs à l’intérêt public, ce matériel comprend un ensemble considérable de récits, de chansons et d’informations liés aux pratiques culturelles, à la fois passées et présentes, des sociétés autochtones du Canada. Cet article envisage les problèmes des concepts de nation, de savoir et d’intérêt public tels qu’ils se posent dans les accords contractuels, la législation sur des sujets allant du droit de propriété intellectuelle au droit de la famille, les négociations de traités entre les Peuples autochtones et le gouvernement du Canada, et la consultation au sujet de différentes définitions culturelles de la propriété et du sacré qui affectent l’accès au patrimoine immatériel autochtone et son usage quotidien au musée. Enfin, cet article envisage les problèmes qui pourraient se poser dans la poursuite de ce travail en raison de la réduction de la portée et du mandat du musée au moment où, de Musée canadien des civilisations, il devient Musée canadien de l’histoire.
Appendices
Appendices
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