Treasure Bearers

Abstract

Heritage institutions often seem bureaucratic and faceless, but law, policy, and practice are traceable to personal values, preferences, and actions. Individuals have been recognized as "agents" in critical theory and archaeology, but aside from celebrity campaigners for high-profile preservation causes and other anecdotal accounts, the people who carry tangible and intangible heritage across generations receive scant attention. Our profiles of cultural practitioners, documenters, and advocates — five bearers of Northern Coast Salish cultural heritage in British Columbia, Canada — identify four personal characteristics that appear to increase leadership effectiveness in heritage stewardship. We suggest that individuals are more likely to achieve stewardship goals when they are (1) personally identified with the heritage; (2) clearly serving collective interests; (3) credible in communications within and across social boundaries; and (4) willing to act on personal commitments, even in risky situations. The lives and works of the five Treasure Bearers profiled here established the baseline terms of reference, data sets, and priorities for the region's first significant collaborations among First Nations, local governments, researchers, and citizens. Their seminal efforts not only paved the way for initial steps toward intercommunity reconciliation, but assured a pivotal role for cultural heritage in an ongoing suite of community-based initiatives to incorporate the most significant and valuable aspects of the past into a regional future all can be proud of.