Indigenous Collections and Repatriation Policy

The Royal BC Museum and Archives ("the Museum") is committed to continuous dialogue and collaboration with Indigenous communities in British Columbia regarding the collections it holds and the programs it delivers. This include the active repatriation and cooperative management of Indigenous collections, ancestral remain and burial belongings in its care. 

The Museum acknowledges that the cultural heritage of the Indigenous peoples of British Columbia must be respected by the users, interpreters, scholars and custodians of these important collections. This heritage includes cultural belonging, communally-owned property and ceremonial items as well as information in archival and audio-visual records. Indigenous ancestral remains and associated burial belongings are also in the care of the Museum and addressed in this policy, but are considered to be separate from collections.