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 and its Principles for Engaging and Consulting with FNMI Communities. The new museum’s exhibit spaces will support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

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.

The Journey Thus Far

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. Robin Binèsi Cavanagh filled the position for 2019, and together with Curator Jeremy Ward, phase 1 of the collaborative relationship process (building relations) was successfully initiated.

Due to travel restrictions and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, our collaborative relations in-person visits were cancelled for 2020 and 2021. Thanks to the digital tools we have all grown accustomed to during the pandemic this important work was able to continue and expand. 

Currently, the Museum is hiring Indigenous Peoples from 8 different communities as Community Coordinators to support language-related projects that will create content for the new exhibits and support collections care. Building outwards from relations with Curve Lake, Hiawatha, Alderville, and Scugog ­– local Michi Saagig First Nations on whose territory the Museum resides ­– the Museum will work with Inuit communities in northern Labrador and Nunavik, the Mi’kmaq in the east, and the Haida Gwaii Museum in the west. In each community, the Museum’s team will gather knowledge about canoes and kayaks, their roles in resource harvesting, changes caused by settlement, and the resurgence of Indigenous watercraft-making and use as part of community healing.

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