Commodifications of Cultural Heritage

Commodifications of Cultural Heritage. Photo: Solen Roth
Illustration by Eric Simons
Illustration by Eric Simons
Illustration by Eric Simons

“Commodification” means transforming something into a product for commercial purposes, an item to be bought and sold in the market. Intangible cultural heritage is frequently used in the commercial sector, incorporated into company names, branding, logos, and products. Tangible cultural heritage may also be commodified, such as in the case of artworks intended to be sold commercially. 

Such use is considered an appropriation when done without permission, and can cause significant cultural, spiritual, and economic harm. 

Awareness of how the appropriation and commodification of cultural heritage affects Indigenous peoples is much needed—Indigenous heritage is too often viewed as “public domain,” free for the taking. What tools and strategies can Indigenous communities and scholars use to deal with appropriation and commodification concerns and opportunities? 

This theme covers complex topics such as the use of Indigenous heritage expressions in the entertainment, clothing, and giftware industries; the role that government and legislation has in regulating cultural appropriation and commodification; the processes by which disempowered communities can counter appropriations; and the impact of treating cultural artifacts and human remains as commodities, whether in medical science or museums.

Photo by Solen Roth. Illustrations by Eric Simons. 

Events
Commodification Workshop

When Indigenous cultural heritage is turned into commodities, issues of appropriation are inevitably raised, along with debates surrounding identity, property, and sovereignty.

Community Initiatives

Established in 1994, the Inuit Heritage Trust (IHT) has a mandate to preserve, enrich, and protect Inuit cultural heritage and identity as embodied in Nunavut’s archaeological sites, ethnographic resources and traditional place names.

Publications
Argillite, Faux-Argillite and Black Plastic: The Political Economy of Simulating a Quintessential Haida Substance
Journal of Material Culture, vol. 20 no. 3: 299-312.
Solen Roth
2015
New Proposals: Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry 4(3): 60-71
Alexis Bunten
2012
Heritage Management 2.2 (pp.261-286)
George Nicholas, Catherine Bell, Kelly Bannister, Sven Ouzman, Jane Anderson
2009
Presentations
Cultural Appropriation and Indigenous Patrimony
Harry Daniels Distinguished Lecture Series, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
George Nicholas
2016
IPinCH Webinar, Simon Fraser University
Kathy M'Closkey
2015
IPinCH Webinar, Simon Fraser University
Solen Roth
2015
IPinCH Fall Gathering
Jane Anderson
2014
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination Public Symposium
Nicole Aylwin
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination Public Symposium
Susan Rowley
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination Public Symposium
Alexis Bunten
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination Public Symposium
Kim Christen Withey
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination Public Symposium
Deidre Brown
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination Public Symposium
Violet Ford
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination Public Symposium
Maui Solomon
2013
Sto:lo People of the River Conference: Sharing Experience and Building Knowledge
Alexis Bunten
2013
The IPinCH Project – In Theory and Practice
Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference
George Nicholas
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples & Self-Determination Public Symposium and Workshop
Alexis Bunten
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples & Self-Determination Public Symposium
Deidre Brown
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples & Self-Determination Public Symposium
Kim Christen
2013
Marks Communicating Indigenous Means of Production
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples & Self-Determination
Rosemary Coombe
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples & Self-Determination Public Symposium
Violet Ford
2013
Drawing a Line in the Sand: Protection of the Sanilac Petroglyphs
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples & Self-Determination, Public Symposium and Workshop
Shannon Martin
2013
Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples & Self-Determination Public Symposium
George Nicholas
2013
Beyond Collaborative Research and Exhibitions: Markets, Reproductions, and the Idea of “Collaboration”
World Archaeological Congress Intercongress (Indianapolis)
Solen Roth
2011
Collaboration, Communication, and Negotiation in the Age of Digital Media and Mass-Production
World Archaeological Congress Intercongress (Indianapolis)
Solen Roth (session organizer)
2011
IPinCH Midterm Conference
Solen Roth
2011
Not Just Their “Kitsch Mirror”: Museum Reproductions and the Native Northwest Coast Giftware Industry
American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting (New Orleans)
Solen Roth
2010
Who Owns or Has the Right to Benefit from the Past?
The Global Archaeologies Conference of Archaeology (Dublin, Ireland)
George Nicholas
2008
Teaching Resources
Think Before You Appropriate: A Guide for Creators and Designers
Posted Jan 12, 2016

People and cultures have always exchanged and borrowed ideas from each other to create new forms of art and symbolic expression. Whether intentionally or not, most if not all human creations reflect varied sources of inspiration.

Posted Jun 17, 2014

As a follow up to the 2013 Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples & Self Determination Public Symposium, Marina La Salle and the Commodifications of Cultural Heritage Working Group developed viewing guides to accompany the nine videos from the event.

Posted May 15, 2014

The Commodifications of Cultural Heritage Working Group has gathered a selection of related university-level syllabi, with course topics ranging from cultural law, art law, cultural property rights and museums, repatriation and more. These syllabi are shared for educational purposes with permission of the authors.

Videos & Podcasts
CFRC

George Nicholas and Bridge Duty's Christine Bruce discuss cultural appropriation in its many forms, and IPinCH's efforts to encourage more sensitive approaches to the use of Indigenous cultural heritage. 

Teepees and Trademarks: Aboriginal Peoples, Stereotypes and Intellectual Propert
Vanessa Udy

Vanessa Udy explores the ways in which aboriginal peoples in Canada and the United States have used intellectual property laws to promote their cultural heritage and to protect it from negative stereotypes and cultural appropriation. 

Catherine Bell

In this video, legal scholar Catherine Bell chats with IPinCH Project Ethnographer Alexis Bunten following the IPinCH "Cultural Commodification, Indigenous Peoples & Self-Determination" symposium & workshop. 

Commodification of Inuit Symbols and Potential Protection Mechanisms
Violet Ford

The commodification of Inuit cultural symbols has been increasing. Much of this commodification is derogatory and is misappropriated without permission of the Inuit community. <--break- />

Local Contexts: Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Cultural Heritage
Kim Christen Withey

This presentation introduces Local Contexts, an educational website that includes an introduction to a set of innovative traditional knowledge (TK) license and labels being developed in a response to Indigenous communities' needs. 

Susan Rowley Ookpik - The Ogling Owl at 50
Susan Rowley

Fifty years ago the Canadian Government selected Ookpik to represent the country at the 1964 trade fair in Philadelphia. An overnight sensation, the Canadian Government moved quickly to trademark Ookpik for the Fort Chimo Eskimo Co-operative. 

George Nicholas
George Nicholas

This presentation provides an introduction to the issues associated with intellectual property and cultural heritage, as well as contextual information related to the complex processes known as “commodification”. 

Victor Guerin
Victor Guerin

Closing Remarks by Victor Guerin, Artist and Cultural Representative, Musqueam Indian Band.  

VICTOR GUERIN
Victor Guerin

Victor Guerin, Artist and Cultural Representative of the Musqueam Indian Band, welcomes symposium guests to the Musqueaum ancestral territory and offers a prayer and song. 

Alexis Bunten
Alexis Bunten

The scale, scope, and kinds of things that can be commoditized are expanding in the global framework of late capitalism. 

Traditional Identity: the Commodification of New Zealand Maori Imagery
Deidre Brown

Maui Solomon

This presentation draws on examples from New Zealand and the Pacific to describe an Indigenous framework for protecting traditional users and their traditional knowledge.

Nicole Aylwin
Nicole Aylwin

Ashley Julian and Brian Noble

Solen Roth

Press Releases

In the lead-up to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, the Hudson’s Bay Company announced it would sell knock-offs of traditional hand-knit Cowichan sweaters as official 2010 Olympics merchandise.

Simon Fraser University archaeology professor George Nicholas is joining international scholars at a Vancouver symposium May 2 to explore the commodification of Aboriginal culture.