Overview
Below is an overview of intangible cultural heritage for First Nations communities across British Columbia. It provides definitions and details the importance of maintaining and cultivating this type of traditional knowledge.
Prepared By
The First Peoples’ Cultural Council
Intangible Cultural Heritage – Definition and Context
First Nations perceive and articulate cultural heritage according to their unique perspectives, traditions, and languages. Typically, their Cultural Heritage intertwines physical/tangible elements—such as landscapes, monuments, and tools—with the intangible and living knowledge that we receive from ancestors and pass down to our descendants. This intangible heritage encompasses language and oral traditions, performing arts, traditional craftsmanship, social practices, rituals, festive events, and knowledge and practices related to nature and the universe.
Historically, “tangible” heritage, which describes physical places and objects, has received more attention in heritage conservation than “intangible heritage”, which includes elements that cannot be seen or touched. Conservation planning is important for intangible cultural heritage, as these elements that define culture, such as language, traditional knowledge and practices, are at risk of being overlooked due to their intangibility.
First Nations connection to the land shows the importance of including intangible cultural heritage stewardship in heritage conservation practices. In this time of environmental change, urbanization and industrial development, maintaining that connection is becoming increasingly difficult—and important. This connection to the land includes harvesting procedures, the best berry spots, fishing holes, seasonal sites and hunting dens. It also includes cultivation practices—the fish weirs, clam gardens, camas plantations, tree modification and so on.
These examples of intangible heritage encompass cultural knowledge, language, skills and more. They are the connections that show why a place is significant to a group or community and show the way people connect to that place or object. Stewarding both tangible (sites/plants/objects) and intangible (language/practices/knowledge) heritage is therefore necessary to pass on heritage to future generations.
It’s important to note that not all intangible cultural heritage can be shared with the general public. Some intangible heritage will include secret or sacred information that must follow traditional customs that limit who can hold the knowledge. This knowledge still needs to be safeguarded. Secret knowledge must still be passed from one generation to the next, and doing so means the knowledge is safe and the heritage is protected.
Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage
Conservation of intangible heritage is usually referred to as safeguarding. Safeguarding doesn’t mean that the intangible heritage becomes frozen in some pure form—it simply means that the communication of the knowledge, skills and meanings within that heritage is continued.
Successful safeguarding methods ensure that the intangible heritage is relevant to its community and is transmitted from one generation to the next. It is a continuous and fluid process and always respects the customary practices around access to information.
We recommend starting by creating an inventory, which has been shown to be effective by various UNESCO projects. This inventory can take whatever form is needed and includes as detailed a description as is required to stay true to the traditional values around the knowledge. In this way, secret knowledge remains secret, but its existence is noted in the inventory.
The inventory is simply a starting point to help focus on what practices and skills are valued and need attention. The inventory itself is not a method to safeguard the heritage, but merely a planning tool to aid in the development of safeguarding. The safeguarding itself is in the actions taken to keep the heritage alive, ensuring its viability and the transfer of knowledge to future generations.
After the inventory is created and specific knowledge identified, actual heritage safeguarding can reinforce where and how the knowledge occurs. For example, people will learn the protocols for harvesting cedar bark, while actually properly harvesting cedar bark, or they will learn about a seasonal ceremony/celebration while preparing for that time of year. In this way, authentic experience is shared, and the specific vocabulary of the knowledge is also utilized.
Role of the First Peoples’ Cultural Council
The First Peoples’ Cultural Council currently supports the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage as a part of the Heritage Program. Learn more about how FPCC can support safeguarding your community’s intangible heritage here. The language and arts programs and the FirstVoices initiative also support the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Reference: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2010).
Reference Links:
Indigenous Living Heritage in Canada – First Peoples Cultural Council Kit of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage – intangible heritage – Culture Sector – UNESCO
Living Heritage and Indigenous Peoples – intangible heritage – Culture Sector – UNESCO
Brochure-indigenous-people-201904-EN.pdf
Celebrating the living heritage of indigenous peoples – UNESCO Digital Library