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The role museums play in society is underappreciated by most people. Often seen as the stodgy domain of the elite, they are sometimes dismissed as being nothing more than the final resting place for the things the world no longer needs. Of course they are much more than this. They are hives of scholarship and discovery and in their larger varieties they conduct some of the most advanced scientific and historical research done anywhere today. Museums also link their communities to their roots in very special ways, usually by selecting from their collections things that are uniquely meaningful to the audiences they expect to attract. In doing so, they engender a sense of community in their visitors, providing education and information about the origins of their society. Conversely, they also select items that they know will be foreign to most people, in an effort to foster an appreciation of the diversity of human experiences and raise awareness of other peoples' pasts.
Still, what if that past has not passed? What if some of the objects are not artifacts at all but are still a part of our world, at home and integrally part of a current context? This is the dilemma many Aboriginal people confront when they enter museums to find objects displayed without regard for meanings that may be sacred in their particular culture. Members of First Nations sometimes discover objects full of spiritual meaning that have been shockingly mistreated, usually by owners who have little direct knowledge of Aboriginal culture and often fail to see the problems when they are bought to their attention. Many of the objects have been stolen during times when it was considered acceptable to do so. Not surprisingly, recent years have seen a rise in legal efforts to repatriate many of these objects to their original owners, who are unwilling to leave them to the people who have (often circuitously) gained control of them.
This paper examines the challenges that members of Aboriginal cultures face in this debate and what options are currently open to them. It will examine the clash between the broader Canadian society and Aboriginal conceptions of property, and explore the current legal frameworks which allow recovery of tangible cultural items and human remains from...