Collaborative Relations

Indigenous Peoples around the world designed, built and used the first canoes and kayaks. The canoe embodies Indigenous cultural memory – and is a living artifact with both historical and contemporary relevance. Across what is now known as Canada, activity around the canoe has strengthened Indigenous Peoples’ connections to their land, culture, language, and communities. As part of the exhibit design and development process, the museum will invite Indigenous Peoples to share their stories in their own voices as together, we work to preserve and share these artifacts in the collection.

In essence, this means sharing authority for the research, documentation and representation of Indigenous culture and looking to acknowledge the impacts of colonization. The exhibit development process supports the museum’s strategic plan, its Principles for Engaging and Consulting with FNMI Communities and its Indigenous Research Methodology developed for collaborative relations research. The new museum’s exhibit spaces will support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

In late 2018 the museum created a new position, Director of Indigenous Peoples’ Collaborative Relations, designed to work closely with staff, board, volunteers and to reach out and facilitate relationship building between The Canadian Canoe Museum and Indigenous communities across Canada. The position was filled by Robin Binèsi Cavanagh for 2019, and together with Curator Jeremy Ward, phase 1 of the Collaborative Relationship process (building relations) was successfully initiated.

2020 Update

While the Collaborative Relations in-person visits have been cancelled, this important work is being carried out remotely during the COVID restrictions in the interests of protecting vulnerable populations.

These relationships are profoundly important to the museum and, when exhibit development and design work resumes in earnest slated for 2021, the Canadian Canoe Museum is planning to work with in-community curators, recruited to ensure that the knowledge, voices and perspectives from their communities are properly reflected within the new exhibits.

Knowledge Clusters                                                                                           

The museum has identified knowledge clusters, individuals and communities – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous – in specific geographic regions with connections to canoes in the collection. These knowledge clusters, as they are established and continue to grow, will be the basis for building relationships and facilitating ongoing dialogue. This is one way to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are respectfully engaged throughout the concept, design and production phase of the museum’s exhibits and well into the future.

Design & Build News