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In this election, we have heard many discussions about Canadian identity, which is a subject we are well-acquainted with at Heritage Saskatchewan. Heritage is not only a part of these conversations – it is the foundation of the conversation itself: identity is made by our culture and heritage.

Canadians have a long heritage of resilience in the face of adversity. Our heritage is something to celebrate, commemorate, and remember. In current times, it has become how we identify ourselves and how we relate to one another.  In this way, cultural heritage is about who we are as a people and how we connect with each other through our shared heritage, but cultural heritage is also an engine for economic growth and jobs. Cultural heritage creates value-added for Canada’s economy through the essential services of heritage workers to provide those shared experiences.

Heritage is a choice we make. What we decide to keep and pass on (like buildings, objects, landscapes, traditions, recipes, seeds, languages) to future generations is a decision made in the present and is made continually. It is negotiated and re-negotiated throughout our own lifetime and the lifetime of the objects, places, and traditions that we decide to pass on. Heritage, like culture, is a dynamic force that evolves and adapts to shifting circumstances. As the world around us changes, so too does our interpretation of heritage.

Heritage is a part of our daily lives. It includes our beliefs, assumptions about the world, and how we interpret our surroundings. What each of us see as ‘normal’ is, in fact, part of our heritage that we have inherited from those who came before us. Examples are plentiful and can be as complicated as how we interact with the environment, as immediate as what holidays we celebrate and how, or as simple as what food we regularly stock in our cupboards. How we commemorate and celebrate our heritage can leave material reminders – physical, touchable things - across our landscape. The heritage we choose to safeguard  and share comes to live within us and our communities, becoming what is known as living heritage.

In the context of the current election, there are important ways we can interact with, understand, and share heritage, culture, and identity with our neighbours and descendants: through tourism, our identity, and our diverse communities. Below are three examples.

1 - Tourism relies on living heritage to create unique and exciting places and experiences. Museums, heritage sites, and festivals may jump to mind as part of our tourism landscape, but other businesses and activities are also heritage-related. Hunting and fishing outfitters in northern Saskatchewan, for example, rely on generations of traditional knowledge. This includes Indigenous-led businesses and heritage places that are telling the full stories of Canada and driving innovative tourism experiences (e.g. Wanuskewin, Dakota Dunes, Northern Experiences).

Many of our recreation choices are driven by our culture: camping at SaskParks is a significant part of the summer plans for thousands of people across Saskatchewan, as is attending a music festival, a rodeo, or a hockey tournament.

These experiences are impossible without the heritage industry. A cornerstone of the sustainability of this industry is employment during peak tourism, via programs like the federally funded Young Canada Works (YCW). Not only does it offer hundreds of emerging heritage workers the opportunity to build their resume and gain experience that matters, it also ensures key heritage places in communities remain operational.†

The increased tourism expected this summer across Canada would not be possible without heritage workers, heritage sites, and events. Canadians will be looking for places and spaces where they can connect with their country, and heritage workers need to be there to help make that happen.  

Increased employment opportunities in the heritage industry through expansion of programs like YCW and training opportunities are needed now more than ever.

2  - The signing of the Numbered Treaties (in Saskatchewan, Numbered Treaties 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10) marked significant moments in the relationship between Indigenous peoples, land, and settlers. While the signing of these Treaties is a series of historical events, the Treaties are not history: they are a living, breathing part of the relationship between the First Nations people and the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan and all people who live here. They are an agreement to share this land.

The relationship between First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada has not always been positive and congenial. This is part of our inheritance from the past, but it does not need to stay this way. How we reconcile and move forward in our relationships is a choice we make in the present. The broken relationships and promises can be mended; and this is something we pass on to future generations, as something, we hope, being made whole.

Indigenous communities and organisations know how to address these needs best. Support and resources have the most impact if the people who know the needs of their communities are supported: cultural institutions like Wanuskewin and the Indigenous Heritage Circle; or returning autonomy to nations like Chief Red Bear Children’s Lodge at Cowessess First Nation are examples of Indigenous peoples addressing the needs of their communities through culturally relevant work.

The nation-to-nation relationships that have begun will need to continue and be strengthened to keep agendas for reconciliation, respect for the Treaties moving forward, and give support to Indigenous-led organisations to ensure they can address community needs; by the community for the community.

3 - Culture and heritage make our identity.  Throughout the history of Canada, multiple Commissions have discussed how to bulwark Canadian identity and cultural heritage from Americanisation, resulting in (amongst other things), the creation of the Canadian cultural communications highway: the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). As Canadians, we know we have a distinct identity, even if we have differing perspectives on what parts of that identity are most important.

While there are many aspects of our past that we cannot (and should not) be proud of, there are still many pieces that we can learn from, change, and celebrate. Commemoration and celebration are also choices, and choices to conserve our rich cultural heritage and tell the full story of how our communities – how Saskatchewan and Canada – developed. Telling these stories tells us how our communities are unique and important to who we are, and how we can work towards justice. Cultural heritage is not monolithic; it is as diverse as we are.

Heritage celebrates our diversity, the different ways of living, and our different perspectives. Every town and city in Saskatchewan is made of overlapping communities – whether that is sports teams, religious groups, volunteer organisations, etc. Each have their own heritage and traditions, which mix and mingle together to create a vibrant community. What makes places in Saskatchewan interesting and desirable to live in and visit is that they have their own unique, diverse, and living heritage.

So fund it! To celebrate our cultural heritage and strengthen what makes us Canadian, we need to support the cultural heritage places, organisations, and people who do that work, both the tangible places (museums, heritage buildings), and intangible (languages, stories, cultural events).

Heritage Saskatchewan is eager to chat about living heritage, culture, and identity to anyone who will join us in working towards the freedom to recognise and express who we are, and how we can move forward together, rather than erasing what makes us special and unique.

The points above are ones we think are especially relevant to the heritage and culture industry today, as well as to making jobs in our communities, and making our communities welcoming places for everyone. Cultural heritage is important to this country and requires better resources to address current and emerging needs. We look forward to discussing these more after the election.

 

† At the time of writing, there are 118 jobs available in Saskatchewan alone. This is standard for this program.