Auctioning Hudson's Bay artifacts with First Nations significance would be 'morally irresponsible': chief

Sammy Hudes · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 24, 2025 2:26 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

As Hudson's Bay heads to tribunal seeking support to auction disconnected 1,700 pieces of creation and much than 2,700 artifacts, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is requesting a halt to the merchantability of items that whitethorn beryllium to oregon beryllium linked with First Nations people.

A missive by Grand Chief Kyra Wilson to the show for Hudson's Bay, which is operating nether tribunal extortion from creditors nether the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, said determination is "deep concern" implicit the imaginable auction of artifacts from its collection.

"Given the quality and scope of HBC's long-standing narration with First Nations, it is likely, if not certain, that galore of the artifacts slated for auction are of profound cultural, spiritual, and humanities value to First Nations people," Wilson said successful the missive connected Tuesday.

"Selling these items astatine auction without afloat transparency and consultation with impacted First Nations would not lone beryllium morally irresponsible but besides correspond a continuation of the assemblage dispossession of First Nations' lands and belongings that the HBC straight profited from for centuries."

It is inactive unclear what circumstantial artifacts could beryllium included successful the auction beyond the 355-year-old royal charter that launched the company.

Hudson's Bay announced Wednesday it volition liquidate each of its remaining stores and has antecedently said an auction "is the astir transparent, just and businesslike attack to monetize the creation postulation portion recognizing and protecting its taste and humanities significance."

In summation to halting the merchantability oregon transportation of artifacts with imaginable links to First Nations, Wilson requested the afloat catalogue of items being considered for liquidation beryllium made public.

She besides said determination should beryllium a First Nations-led reappraisal process.

"These artifacts are not simply 'valuable assets' oregon one-of-a-kind collectibles, but pieces of surviving history, immoderate of which whitethorn beryllium sacred, stolen from First Nations oregon decently First Nations-owned," she wrote.

Others person asked the institution to transportation its royal charter to a nationalist archival instauration specified arsenic the Archives of Manitoba to guarantee its preservation, alternatively than hazard it being sold to a backstage buyer.

The charter, granted by King Charles II successful 1670, is "one of the astir important archival documents that exists successful Canada," said Cody Groat, seat of the Canada Advisory Committee for Memory of the World, which is nether the umbrella of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Groat called the papers "foundational" to discussions astir governmental governance successful Canada and pact negotiations with Indigenous people.

That's due to the fact that the charter, which established Hudson's Bay arsenic a fur trading company, besides granted it "semi-sovereign rights" which allowed it to run some "as a concern entity and arsenic a assemblage authorities astatine the aforesaid time," Groat said.

"So erstwhile we look astatine this, it's not conscionable a papers that established a business. It's a papers that truly created a unsocial governmental assemblage operation successful Canada."

Other Hudson's Bay artifacts person antecedently been donated to the Archives of Manitoba. In 2007, those received UNESCO's Memory of the World designation, meant to safeguard documents of humanities and taste importance.

But the charter, which has remained successful the company's possession, hasn't received that recognition.

Groat said that to beryllium designated, an point indispensable beryllium assessed to person been decently preserved according to archival conservation standards, and the wide nationalist indispensable person tenable entree to it.

"What we're calling for is simply a designation that this should not beryllium viewed arsenic conscionable different firm asset," helium said.

"If a backstage corp buys it, it could beryllium designated, but it entering a nationalist instauration is benignant of however we cognize it's going to beryllium preserved successful a mode that it ought to beryllium preserved."