{"id":125,"date":"2017-11-01T08:43:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T12:43:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/manitoba-migration\/?p=125"},"modified":"2017-11-01T08:45:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-01T12:45:25","slug":"few-answers-to-difficult-questions-at-canadian-museum-for-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/manitoba-migration\/2017\/11\/01\/few-answers-to-difficult-questions-at-canadian-museum-for-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Few Answers to Difficult Questions at Canadian Museum for Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Maddy Pauchet<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, designed by architect Antoine Predock<\/p><\/div>\n

Kit Muir frowns and finishes her second beer. \u201cIt\u2019s funny that you\u2019re so enthusiastic about the Human Rights museum,\u201d she says. \u201cThe reception here wasn\u2019t nearly so warm.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) opened in Winnipeg, Manitoba in September 2014. Built by architect Antoine Predock, it is designed to replicate Canada\u2019s natural scenery and open spaces, including its mountains, prairie skies, northern lights and glacial peaks. The museum aims to explore human rights in Canada and internationally, to enhance the public\u2019s understanding, to promote respect for others, and to encourage reflection and dialogue.<\/p>\n

According to Muir, a second-year Journalism student at Red River College in Winnipeg, the Museum faced some early criticism. A 2011 Global News article puts the cost of building the museum at CAN$351 million. \u201cWhy put so much money into this?\u201d Muir asks. She describes the human rights violations and the poverty at home that she believes should\u2019ve taken precedence. She also relates the condemnation the museum received for its hesitance to describe the colonization of indigenous peoples as a genocide. The electronic pow-wow band A Tribe Called Red pulled out of the museum\u2019s opening festivities in 2014, and released a statement that summarized their position: \u201cwe feel it was necessary to cancel our performance because of the museum\u2019s misrepresentation and downplay of the genocide that was experienced by Indigenous people in Canada by refusing to name it genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jodi Giesbrecht, Manager and Researcher at CMHR, explains that much of the early criticism was fueled either by speculations about the museum\u2019s representation of First Nations, or by a poor understanding of its mission. In response to Muir\u2019s criticism of fund allocation, Giesbrecht punts and points to a broader argument. \u201cEvery arts and cultural institution faces this question, but it\u2019s not a zero-sum game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether the museum must answer to the government because of its national designation, the curator of the \u2018Indigenous Perspectives\u2019 gallery says that the question is asked often, but that in her year at the museum, she has never experienced governmental restrictions on the content of the exhibits.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Museum’s first exhibit answers “What are human rights?”<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) concluded that the colonization of indigenous people amounted to \u2018cultural genocide.\u2019 A CMHR release acknowledges these findings, and describes their commitment to \u201cplay a role in reconciliation through education\u2026 to explore the connection between genocide and colonization\u2026we include the voices\u2026of those taking steps to have Residential schools officially recognized as genocide\u2026we can help to ensure that this conversation continues to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the \u2018Breaking the Silence\u2019 gallery that aims to \u201cexplore the role of secrecy and denial in many atrocities around the world\u201d does not include colonization or Residential schools among the five genocides that they recognize. Instead, they receive the designation of \u201cmass atrocity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In resisting the word \u2018genocide,\u2019 CMHR pursues a conversation that TRC had already concluded.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Museum’s Garden of Contemplation<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Maddy Pauchet Kit Muir frowns and finishes her second beer. \u201cIt\u2019s funny that you\u2019re so enthusiastic about the Human Rights museum,\u201d she says. \u201cThe reception here wasn\u2019t nearly so warm.\u201d The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) opened in Winnipeg, Manitoba in September 2014. Built by architect Antoine Predock, it is designed to replicate<\/p>\n

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