Abstract
Few Indigenous peoples have control over their heritage, despite international recognition of this right in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007. In Ontario, Canada, the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990 regulates archaeology and grants licences to archaeologists to investigate archaeological heritage. Indigenous people want more control of their archaeological heritage in Ontario. To uphold Indigenous rights to archaeological heritage in Ontario, heritage legislation and policy needs to be revised and site protection increased. This paper recommends that Indigenous archaeological heritage in Ontario would be best protected by strengthening Ontario government land development policy and legislation to require the free, prior, and informed consent from affected Indigenous communities before removal of significant archaeological sites and remains from their ancestral territories.
Résumé
Peu de peuples autochtones contrôlent leur patrimoine malgré la reconnaissance mondiale de ce droit dans la Déclaration des Nations Unies sur les droits des peuples autochtones adoptée par l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies en 2007. En Ontario au Canada, la Loi sur le patrimoine de l’Ontario de 1990 gouverne l’archéologie et octroie aux archéologues des licences leur permettant d’étudier le patrimoine archéologique. En Ontario, les peuples autochtones souhaitent avoir plus de contrôle sur leur patrimoine archéologique. Pour respecter les droits au patrimoine archéologique de l’Ontario, les lois et politiques relatives au patrimoine doivent être revues, et la protection des sites accrue. Le présent article avance que le patrimoine archéologique autochtone de l’Ontario serait mieux protégé si l’on renforçait la politique et les lois du gouvernement de l’Ontario en matière d’aménagement du territoire, de façon à exiger le consentement libre, préalable et éclairé des communautés autochtones avant la suppression des sites et vestiges d’importance des terres ancestrales.
Resumen
Pocos pueblos indígenas tienen control sobre su patrimonio, a pesar del reconocimiento internacional de este derecho en la Declaración de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas (UNDRIP), adoptado por la Asamblea General de las NU en 2007. En Ontario (Canadá), la Ley sobre Patrimonio Cultural de Ontario, R.S.O. 1990 regula la arqueología y concede licencias a arqueólogos para investigar el patrimonio arqueológico. Los pueblos indígenas quieren más control de su patrimonio arqueológico en Ontario. Para defender los derechos de los indígenas al patrimonio arqueológico en Ontario, es necesario que se revisen la legislación y la política sobre el patrimonio y que se aumente la protección de los lugares. El presente documento recomienda que el patrimonio arqueológico indígena en Ontario estaría mejor protegido fortaleciendo la política gubernamental y la legislación sobre desarrollo de la tierra para que se requiera el consentimiento libre, previo e informado de las comunidades indígenas afectadas antes de la eliminación de lugares y restos arqueológicos significativos de sus territorios ancestrales.
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Acknowledgements
This paper is a revised version of one delivered in the “Heritage and the Late Modern State” session, 3rd Biennial Conference, Association of Critical Heritage Studies, Montreal, PQ, June 4, 2016. I would like to thank both Rich Hutchings and Josh Dent, the session organizers, for inviting me to participate. Thank you to all participants in the session who provided comments, some of which were incorporated into this paper. An anonymous reviewer recommended much needed organizational and substantive changes that strengthened the paper considerably. I extend my gratitude to all who assisted with this paper.
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Warrick, G. Control of Indigenous Archaeological Heritage in Ontario, Canada. Arch 13, 88–109 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-017-9310-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-017-9310-1