Sour Springs Longhouse and the Haudenosaunee Standing Committee on Burials and Burial Regulations
Thanks to the June Callwood Program in Aboriginal Law, I have been working with the Sour Springs Longhouse and the Haudenosaunee Standing Committee on Burials and Burial Regulations. My main focus this summer has been the repatriation of sacred false face masks from the Denver Museum of Natural History, the Denver Art Museum, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
While museums no longer actively collect these masks, they have become a significant part of the collections of many institutions. Traditionally, however, these masks have been and continue to be actively used. The masks are healing and protective masks, used by a medicine society as part of traditional and modern Haudenosaunee practices. Displaying, photographing, and maintaining these masks within museum collections is in direct opposition to their intended use. The Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee has formally stated this since the 1970s.
In seeking their return, I have had to explore several different aspects of Crown-Aboriginal relations, in both Canada and the United States. While America has instituted the Native American Graves Protection and Repatritation Act (NAGRPA), Canada's position on repatration varies from institution to institution. In order to make a viable and effective claim for the return of the masks, I have been researching the use of the masks and their provenance, that is, how the institutions came to acquire them. The route that other museums have taken in addressing the issue of their possession of these masks will also play an integral part in the claim. This research will be compiled into a formal request for the return of the masks.
However, my work has not been strictly research. I have been lucky enough to attend a meeting with the Assistant Deputy Minister of Culture regarding protocol and relations between Aboriginal peoples, archaeologists, and developers. This meeting provided an opportunity to observe negotiation and dialogue between the Crown and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Outside of meetings, my placement has allowed me to observe the day-to-day tasks of a sole practitioner. I have also been fortunate to work with many dedicated community members, who have been an invaluable help with this project.
The Callwood Fellowship has opened many exciting doors for me. Not only have I been able to work within my community on a project which I find to be extremely significant; I have also been able to put my undergraduate studies in Art History and Political Science to work. I look forward to making the formal and fully documented requests for the return of the masks, interacting with the various institutions, and hopefully bringing the masks home.
