Indigenous groups are calling on the government to “step out of its comfort zone” and “move away from the colonizing mentality” in order to include “the inestimable and intrinsic contribution of the First Nations to Quebec identity” in the National Museum of Quebec History.
In their brief on Bill 64, which aims to create the museum, the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL), the First Nations Education Council (FNEC) and the Tshakapesh Institute recommend in particular that the museum integrate “Indigenous stories, contributions and perspectives into all exhibitions, with sections managed directly by the First Nations.”
“We believe that Bill 64, in its current form, does not clearly recognize the fundamental contribution of the First Peoples,” said CEPN Director General Denis Gros-Louis during consultations on the legislative piece Tuesday morning.
Gesgapegiag Mi’gmaq First Nation councillor John Martin, who also sits on the CEFN committee, fears that the museum will paint too rosy a view of Quebec’s history.
“There are things in the history of Quebec that are not very positive. The Oka crisis, for example,” he said.
“Reminders of colonialism”
Indigenous groups have still not digested being associated with “prehistory” by historian Éric Bédard, who will be on the museum’s scientific committee.
“The word prehistory suggests that there was no history before Champlain. I think we have a different understanding of what history means,” Martin said.
“You are asking us to endorse what we perceive to be reminders of colonialism,” he added.
Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe, who is overseeing the museum project, expressed regret over the use of the word “prehistory.” “I fully understand that the remarks may have been hurtful,” he said.
The minister continued by stating that he wanted to have, from the indigenous communities, “information” and their “point of view” in order to have “a museum on the history of the Quebec nation and not a museum on the history of the occupation of Quebec territory”, which integrates “all the contribution of the First Peoples”.
“We are inseparable from the history of this land”
Even before the start of consultations in the National Assembly, the government’s museum project had raised criticism for its narrow vision of Quebec identity and history.
When announcing the project, Prime Minister François Legault said he wanted the museum to tell the history of Quebec starting with Champlain.
Comments that had been criticized by the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL), Ghislain Picard. “We are inseparable from the history of this land, and the arrival of Champlain does not define Quebec. The First Nations have been present here for millennia and are deeply attached to this territory that they occupy,” he indicated in a press release in May.
Mr. Legault then had to defend his museum project, ensuring that indigenous communities would have a place there.
The national museum project follows the CAQ government’s abandonment of its network of Blue Spaces due to exploding costs that were approaching a billion dollars. In 2021, the Legault government planned to build 18 new museums called “Blue Spaces,” which would have been dedicated to Quebec culture. An initial construction budget of $259 million had been planned.
The new museum will be located in the Camille-Roy Pavilion of the Séminaire de Québec. It is scheduled to open in spring 2026 and will cost $92 million.