Letter of Support for the CMA Indigenous Council’s Call Regarding the HBC Collection

June 3, 2025

Letter of Support for the CMA Indigenous Council’s Call Regarding the HBC Collection

Dear Mr. Baker,

Indigenous Protocols Collective (IPC), Indigenous Curatorial Collective (ICCA), Canadian Artists’ Representation (CARFAC), and Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec (RAAV) wish to express their unequivocal support for the recommendations issued by the Indigenous Council of the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) regarding the sale of items from the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) collection.

IPC is a collective of Indigenous artists, cultural workers, and Traditional Knowledge Keepers and Practitioners that promote the respectful use of Indigenous cultural protocols and knowledge in the visual arts community, and support the development of Indigenous-led governance structures within arts organizations. ICCA is an Indigenous run organization that supports and connects Indigenous curators, artists, writers, academics, and professionals through critical discourse, professional opportunities, programming, and building reciprocal relationships with Indigenous curators, artists, communities and the institutions we engage with. CARFAC and RAAV are professional associations mandated to represent and defend the rights of visual artists in Canada. Together, we advocate for fair compensation, recognition, and the cultural rights of artists.

We strongly support and amplify the CMA Indigenous Council’s urgent call to immediately halt the sale of Indigenous cultural heritage items. These sales perpetuate harm, violate rights, and undermine HBC’s recent reconciliation efforts. There must be no further delay in implementing full transparency, real accountability, and the creation of a national Indigenous-led framework to protect and uphold Indigenous cultural heritage rights.

We fully support the letter sent to the Heffel auction house demanding the immediate suspension of the sale. We also support the call to the Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations to formally and explicitly commit to repatriation in her new mandate. Anything less would constitute a failure of leadership.

IPC, ICCA, CARFAC, and RAAV affirm that Indigenous cultural rights — including the right to reclaim and repatriate sacred objects and belongings — must be protected. They are fundamental legal and moral obligations. Indigenous Nations and communities are the rightful stewards of their heritage, and they must be empowered to assert full authority over their cultural property in accordance with their laws, values, and governance systems.

We join this collective call with determination and insist that all relevant institutions respond not only with respect, but with the urgency and seriousness this issue demands. 

Respectfully,

Holly Aubichon, Indigenous Protocols Collective member
Monique Manatch, Indigenous Protocols Collective member
Jennifer Smith, Indigenous Protocols Collective member/ Executive Director of the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition (NIMAC)
Liz Baron, Director of Operations, ICCA
April Britski, National Executive Director, CARFAC
Camille Cazin, Executive Director, RAAV