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Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Protection of First Nations Cultural Heritage

Laws, Policy, and Reform

Indigenous peoples around the world are seeking greater control over tangible and intangible cultural heritage. In Canada, issues concerning repatriation and trade of material culture, heritage site protection, treatment of ancestral remains, and control over intangible heritage are governed by a complex legal and policy environment. This volume looks at the key features of Canadian, US, and international law influencing indigenous cultural heritage in Canada. Legal and extralegal avenues for reform are examined and opportunities and limits of existing frameworks are discussed. Is a radical shift in legal and political relations necessary for First Nations concerns to be meaningfully addressed?


476 pages | © 2009

Law and Society


Table of Contents

Preface: Towards Reconciliation / Darlene Johnston

Introduction / Catherine Bell and Robert K. Paterson

Part 1: Repatriation and Trade

1 Restructuring the Relationship: Domestic Repatriation and Canadian Law Reform / Catherine Bell

2 International Movement of First Nations Cultural Heritage in Canadian Law / Catherine Bell and Robert K. Paterson

3 The Protection and Repatriation of Indigenous Cultural Heritage in the United States / James Nafziger

Part 2: Heritage Sites and Ancestral Remains

4 Ancestral Remains in Institutional Collections: Proposals for Reform / Robert K. Paterson

5 Unsitely: The Eclectic Regimes that Protect Aboriginal Cultural Places in Canada / Bruce Ziff and Melodie Hope

6 Policies and Protocols for Archeological Sites and Associated Cultural Intellectual Property / George P. Nicholas

Part 3: Intangible Heritage

7 The Interconnection of Intellectual Property and Cultural Property ("Traditional Knowledge") / Robert G. Howell and Roch Ripley

8 First Nations Cultural Heritage Concerns: Prospects for Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions in International Law / Rosemary J. Coombe

9 Non-Legal Instruments for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Key Roles for Ethical Codes and Community Protocols / Kelly Bannister

Part 4: Human Rights and First Nations Law

10 Indigenous Cultural Heritage Rights in International Human Rights Law / Mohsen al Attar, Nicole Aylwin, and Rosemary J. Coombe

11 From Time Immemorial: The Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Law in Canada / Norman Zlotkin

12 Looking beyond the Law: Questions about Indigenous Peoples’ Tangible and Intangible Property / Val Napol

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