First Nations Elders, Advisers Co-create Exhibit on Indian Act

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Elder Clarence Nepinak prays in front of his ceremonial feather. (photo by Aaron Cohen)

Elijah Harper’s eagle feather, a wampum belt made by a Haudenosaunee faith keeper and a Cree artist’s cradleboard are displayed with handwritten excerpts from the Indian Act in a new exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

The exhibit, which presents the Indian Act as a tool of assimilation, oppression and dispossession, was created in a collaboration between the museum and First Nations elders and advisers, who had a direct voice in decisions about content and physical design.

“The way these items are presented, as if floating above the act, speaks to the resilience and survival of Indigenous traditions,” said Dana Soonias, of Red Pheasant First Nation, a key advisor for the exhibit, along with Sharon McLeod, of  Norway House Cree Nation – both members of the museum’s Indigenous advisory council. “It reflects the ongoing fight against the original goal of the Indian Act to assimilate and eradicate First Nations in Canada.”

Karine Duhamel, the museum's curator for Indigenous rights, said the exhibit is intended to provoke questions and discussion. “Many people don’t even know that the Indian Act still exists, let alone understand the negative impact it continues to have,” she said.

The Indian Act was introduced in 1876 as a consolidation of previous pieces of legislation. Since time immemorial, First Nations people have practiced their own cultures and traditions in all aspects of their lives, including family relationships, governance, land use and identity.

The exhibit is on view until September 2019.

Source: Canadian Museum for Human Rights