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PETER AND DORIS KULE MEMORIAL CONFERENCE - 2025 RECIPIANT

Upholding Indigenous Heritage Rights: Towards a National Frameword

Lead: Dr. Kisha Supernant

Professor
Faculty of Arts, Department of Anthropology
Director, Institute of Prairie & Indigenous Archaeology

 

The Bi-Annual “Peter & Doris Kule Memorial Conference” was created to celebrate the legacy of the founding donors of the Kule Institute for Advanced Study. 

We are excited to announce that the inaugural recipient of the Peter & Doris Kule Memorial Conference fund is Dr. Kisha Supernant with an event titled “Upholding Indigenous Heritage Rights: Toward a National Framework.”

This event is a collaboration between the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology (IPIA) at the º£½ÇÉçÇø, the (IHC), and the (CMA). The conference will be held in September 2026 in Edmonton on the  º£½ÇÉçÇø campus which is located in ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Amiskwacîwâskahikan) on Treaty 6 territory, the territory of the Papaschase, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.

Currently cultural heritage policy in Canada is primarily managed through Provincial and Territorial legislation that is highly variable. At the Federal level, there are no policies or legislative frameworks protecting Indigenous cultural heritage rights. This is problematic as a growing number of Indigenous communities in Canada are advocating for repatriation, rematriation, and recognition of their right to care for their relations, including ancestors and belongings. 

This symposium brings together leading Indigenous voices in repatriation and cultural heritage rights, including community leaders, Elders and knowledge holders, museum practitioners, policy makers, legal scholars, and academics, among others, to discuss the development of a national framework for Indigenous cultural heritage rights within Canada. The results of the symposium and report developed will have scholarly, community, and policy implications on a national and international stage and will advance similar discussions on Indigenous cultural heritage rights in other communities and countries around the globe.