I'd just mention that anybody who has been in the collection rooms of indigenous collections at the Royal Ontario Museum, or any of these other museums, will understand the sheer volume of artifacts that we're talking about. This is in no way going to lead to an emptying out of these institutions. What we're talking about is the ability to pick certain items that relate directly to our communities—stories and techniques that we are specifically trying to revive—and creating online exhibitions and touring exhibitions that we can share with all Canadians.
These artifacts that have languished in storage, that for certain anthropologists or museum directors hold not that much interest, from our community's standpoint can tell huge stories and be life-changing.
I had the experience of showing a ceramic shard to a first nations ceramicist on Manitoulin Island. He has been practising ceramics his whole life and was consistently told that what he was doing was not traditional. I was able to show him a pot that dated from year zero, a photograph, and to see this man's face as he realized that he was part of his own tradition.... We want to build on that. We want to share back to that.
There is also an assumption that first nation centres primarily serve our own people in our mandate, and we do, but our visitorship is broad and huge. It comes from all walks of Canadians.