That is a good question. There was an approach that I recommended when I was working at the Banff Centre for the aboriginal arts program back in 2003-04. We did a pilot project where we brought together traditional dancers to show us the actual movements they use so that our modern aboriginal choreographers could learn from that and be truly inspired. It was not copying the movements but being inspired by the movements and understanding what they were.
I think the question is really about whether we should be able to allow that kind of designation not under Canadian copyright law but under our traditional laws. Under our traditional laws, those dance movements stay within their ceremonies and only there, because they're connected to something much larger, much greater, around our spirituality, our history and our culture.
I think what we need to focus on here in Canada is that there are some really beautiful and incredible opportunities for our young choreographers to be inspired and to create new movements that are based on the old ones but are not exact copies of them. I think we're missing an opportunity. I think reaching into our traditions and trying to bring them forward in that way whittles away at the sacredness and the specialness of those movements in the ceremony. They're also part of our belief systems. When you make those movements along with the song, along with the entire atmosphere of the ceremony, you're sending out vibrations. Lots of us really strongly believe in that. That's an energy and that's a force that we need to protect.
I think it's more about having more discussions about what is appropriate and what is inappropriate. That's a discussion, as my colleague mentioned a few minutes ago, that has to take place amongst our people.