Visible and Invisible Cultural Heritage Destruction- Examining the cultural losses of the Inuit of Canada

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MA Thesis

Visible and Invisible Destruction of Cultural

Heritage

Examining the cultural losses of the Inuit of Canada

University of Amsterdam Word Count: 24, 968

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Introduction

Throughout history, peoples and their cultures have come under attack from others. Conquering or warring parties have sought to replace the cultures of other peoples with their own, and so spread their way of life. Some of those victimized- such as the Incas1_{- were}

targeted so viciously that their way of life was forever obliterated. The loss of cultural heritage is not confined to such dramatic incidents however, but has also arisen when museums have been looted, temples destroyed, or traditional practices prohibited. Such events of cultural heritage destruction have been both visible, and invisible- meaning that some cultural heritage losses have gained more attention internationally, and have been considered more devastating than others. The relative visibility of cultural heritage losses is governed by deeper dynamics and structures, such as narratives of superiority, media and academic biases, power dynamics between certain groups, alongside a history of certain cultures and their heritage being considered superior. The federal policies of qimmiit (the Inuktitut word for sled dog) killings and High Arctic relocations to Ellesmere Island and

1 The Inca Empire, also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America, and possibly the largest empire in the world in the early 16th century. Its last stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572.

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Cornwallis Island that this thesis will discuss were based on such narratives, which constructed indigeneity as an obstacle to progress. As jurist and social scientist Kjell Anderson argues, cultural heritage losses of indigenous peoples can be viewed as ‘cold genocides’, which occurred over generations.2_{Although the killings and destruction of}

culture which occurred under colonial and federal rule in the Arctic is not widely accepted as genocidal, this thesis does posit that in almost all settler-indigenous relations throughout history, the assumption of white superiority has led to genocidal-like consequences.

These dynamics help us to understand why the loss of cultural heritage suffered by indigenous people around the world have remained largely invisible. The visibility of such losses is in complete contrast to the destruction of cultural heritage in contemporary Syria for example, which have dominated media and international attentions for some time.

The cultural heritage losses suffered by the Inuit peoples of Canada form the core of this thesis, with an emphasis on the drastic changes which occurred between 1950 and 1970. Such changes were largely due to federal policies at the time, but were part of a broader evolution of Inuit way of life which had begun generations before. The cultural heritage losses of the Inuit continue to define communities today, and are closely linked to crises of identity and various social issues. Kjell Anderson and the Norwegian filmmaker Ole Gjerstad both posit that in such cases of cultural heritage destruction it is the consequence, and not the intent, which is the point. However, the intention of the Canadian government in relation to Inuit cultural heritage losses is not something to be ignored, especially when both Inuit and some academics suggest that federal policies constituted genocide at the worst, or cultural genocide at the very least. This thesis posits that the Inuit have been victims of cultural genocide (a term which will be explored in greater depth later on), but only in relation to certain federal policies.

This thesis has focused on the Inuit due to my much broader interest in indigenous peoples and their cultures, and because despite having grown up in Canada, I previously knew nothing about the policies of qimmiit killings and High Arctic relocations which this thesis will discuss. Although many postcolonial scholars have contended that indigenous people today are marginalised, and that they suffered greatly under colonial rule, little research has been done which sets indigenous cultural heritage losses within the broader

2 Kjell Anderson, "Colonialism and Cold Genocide: The case of West Papau", Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal 2(5) (2015): 9-25

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context of international cultural heritage protection. The international community has for some time been moving towards greater protective measures for culture, and the recent crisis in Syria has catalysed UN resolutions, while the destruction of cultural heritage in Mali has already resulted in a successful ICC prosecution and conviction. This trend however highlights that there is a division between visible and invisible cultural heritage losses: Inuit cultural heritage losses remain side-lined within Canada, whereas cultural heritage destruction in Bosnia for example, became an issue of international interest following the conflict. This thesis will analyse such comparisons in more detail in Chapter Two, but suffice it to say that this thesis posits that Inuit cultural heritage losses remain largely invisible, both nationally and internationally, despite Inuit-produced documentaries, and various commissions of inquiry being initiated relating to these losses. Such invisibility is related to the choices made by the Canadian government regarding its ‘usable’ past, as not all events in Canadian indigenous history fit into Canada’s currently promoted narrative of multiculturalism and tolerance. The selection of events for Canada’s ‘usable’ past will be discussed in Chapter One in greater detail.

In order to address the relative visibility of Inuit cultural heritage losses, and ensure that this thesis does not adopt a western bias in its tone, the methodology of research has aimed to include as many indigenous sources and perspectives as possible. It is for this reason that various Inuit documentaries have been referenced (as they offer a personal insight into contemporary Inuit challenges and perspectives), and why interviews were conducted with Inuit elders (and those who have worked closely with the Inuit). When discussing the methodology of research related to indigenous peoples, it is difficult to avoid an analysis of colonialism and its narratives.3_{Therefore, Chapter One of this thesis dedicates considerable}

space to discussing narratives of superiority, and assumptions of the inferiority of indigenous cultures, in order for us to understand the context within which indigenous cultural heritage losses exist. Even today, they exist within a system that marginalises indigenous cultures, concerns, rights and historical traumas; a system which at the same time continues to endeavour to protect other examples of cultural heritage which are considered endangered. I

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would also like to note that while researching the cultural heritage losses of the Inuit, it was very tempting to make sweeping judgments regarding the intentions of the federal government during the 1950-1970 period. Canadian indigenous concerns are almost impossible to examine from a neutral perspective, when a power imbalance is so obviously at play between the parties involved. However, I have endeavoured to place my personal views (and emotions regarding this topic) to one side, and instead focus on Inuit perspectives and feelings surrounding their cultural heritage losses.

Sources such as news reports, social media, websites and Inuit organisation reports were particularly useful, as they illuminated the current situation for the Inuit in Canada, as well as the history of interactions between the Inuit and non-indigenous Canadians. This research also drew upon some works of travel writing, as they offered personal insights into southern Canadian’s experiences of Inuit culture, and demonstrate how much has changed since these publications were written. Finally, I utilised interviews to reaffirm what I had read in the literature, and because interviews offered a more personal approach to the emotional experiences of the qimmiit killings and High Arctic Relocations. The interviews were conducted over skype, and focused around the themes of Inuit cultural heritage losses, the question of cultural genocide, the issue of intent, and the challenges facing the Inuit today. I found the interviews very useful in rounding out the perspective of this thesis, and ensuring that the complexities of the situation were understood. Beyond this inclusion of indigenous perspectives and sources, this thesis was researched thematically. Topics such as cultural heritage protection, qimmiit killings, contemporary Inuit issues, and cultural genocide were researched separately, and then brought together in the following six chapters. This was done because as aforementioned, little research has been done which includes topics as wide ranging as Inuit sled dogs and their importance to Inuit culture, and convictions at the ICTY relating to the destruction of the Mostar Bridge. Researching each topic in depth has therefore allowed me to appreciate the importance and relevance of each topic before comparing and combining them to discuss invisible and visible cultural heritage destruction.

The structure of this thesis will be as follows: Chapter One will provide a more in depth analysis of the history of indigenous marginalisation and the disparities in cultural heritage protection and interest. Chapter Two will therefore focus on a history of cultural heritage,

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outlining its importance, the motivations for destroying cultural heritage, and will also briefly discuss ideologies of superiority. Chapter Three will centre on the history of the Inuit, colonial/ federal involvement with the Inuit, and also touch upon the issue of whether colonialism can be considered a form of genocide. Chapter Four will examine two specific cases of Inuit cultural heritage losses: the sled dog killings of the 1960s, and the High Arctic Relocations of the 1950s. Chapter Five discusses the issue of intent in relation to these cases, and demonstrates that applying labels such as cultural or cold genocide is not a simplistic matter. Chapter Six concludes this thesis, outlining the findings of this research, discussing what can be done after a loss of cultural heritage destruction, and offering recommendations for future action regarding Inuit cultural heritage losses.

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Chapter One

Framing the destruction of Inuit cultural heritage within the context of ‘visible’

and ‘invisible’ destruction of cultural heritage

In the age of international mass media, when anyone can become a reporter with their phone, news stories evolve rapidly, and state secrets are constantly outed on the internet, it may seem unusual to argue that certain events remain ‘invisible’. Certainly, most events are reported upon at some level, but it cannot be denied that certain news stories dominate the headlines, and others never do. The stories which are side-lined often involve groups, interests, or events which are more generally disregarded in global politics. These events, interests, and

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groups are often historically marginalised, or considered to be politically irrelevant. This thesis is interested specifically in why certain cases of cultural heritage destruction become headline news, and other comparable cases of destruction are overlooked. A brief explanation of this dichotomy can be found in the fact that many of these comparable cases of destruction involve indigenous peoples, and other previously marginalised societies which never manage to become topics of mainstream discussion.

Before continuing to what definitions of visible and invisible destruction this thesis will utilise, it is important to briefly outline what cultural heritage constitutes. UNESCO states that

Cultural heritage is a non-renewable resource that belongs to all of humanity4_…

Cultural heritage reflects the life of the community, its history and its identity. Its preservation helps to rebuild broken communities, re-establish their identities, and link their past with their present and future.5

This definition highlights several important elements; firstly, that cultural heritage is non-renewable (and therefore its destruction is an issue which should be considered of paramount importance), secondly that cultural heritage is intrinsically connected to the life of a community (in cases where cultural heritage has been destroyed, sense of self, happiness and health has decreased considerably6_{), and finally that the preservation of cultural heritage}

ensures that people are able to maintain a connection with their past, and future. My interest in cultural heritage destruction was sparked by the news coverage of the cultural destruction by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) of temples in Syria: a story which has dominated the international media and outraged many. The destruction- in whole or in part-of the following sites represents ISIL destruction in the Syrian city part-of Palmyra alone: The

4 UNESCO, “Trafficking of Cultural Heritage in Iraq and Syria”, 2016, Accessed October 27, 2016,

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/illicit-trafficking-of-cultural-property/awareness-raising-initiatives/help-stop-the-destruction-of-cultural-heritage-in-syria-and-iraq/

5 UNESCO, “Armed Conflict and Heritage”, 2016, Accessed October 20, 2016,

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/armed-conflict-and-heritage/

6In the case of Aborigines in Australia, Alfred Dockery undertook research regarding the relationship between Aborigine connections their cultural heritage, and their health and criminal activities. He argued that “strengthening feelings of indigenous personal worth could be achieved by strengthening indigenous cultural attachment”. Dockery found that those with strong attachment to their culture have significantly better self-assessed health. Dockery also found that it is also indigenous people with weak or moderate cultural attachment that are the most likely to have been arrested in the past five years.

Alfred Michael Dockery, “Culture and Wellbeing: The Case of Indigenous Australians”, Social Indicators Research 99(2), (2010): 325

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Temple of Baal, the Temple of Baalshamin, Palmyra’s triumphal arches, the statue of Athena, and other artefacts at the Palmyra museum7_{. The loss of cultural heritage in Syria is without}

doubt an important issue, but it is not the only contemporary example of cultural heritage destruction. In 2015, a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada completed its report on the cultural losses ravaged against Canada’s indigenous peoples under the federal policy of residential schools: the last school closed in 19968_{. This story of cultural}

loss and its lasting legacy- demonstrated by the high levels of depression, suicide and abuse within indigenous communities- was not a recipient of widespread international attention. Such disparities in the representation of cultural heritage destruction form the basis of this thesis: why are certain stories of cultural heritage destruction visible, and others largely invisible? In cases of ‘invisible’ cultural heritage destruction, this thesis will also examine the issue of intent and the labels of cold genocide, and cultural genocide.

Visible and invisible destruction: what do such terms mean? As aforementioned, this thesis does not aim to argue that certain events are truly ‘invisible’, but simply that they are not prioritized and are not considered as newsworthy as similar events. ‘Visible’ destruction refers to events such as the destruction of the Syrian Temple of Bel, or other prominent events including the trial of Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi in 2016 for the destruction of cultural heritage sites in Mali. These cases of cultural heritage destruction have been visible, and have been considered important and relevant by the international community. Before moving on to discuss the 'invisible' cultural heritage destruction which will form the core study of this thesis, we must understand these visible cases which have dominated international media and legal attention. Chapter Two will deal in more depth with the increased international interest in cultural heritage protection, but this section will focus on the two cases of cultural heritage destruction which demonstrate that interest in cultural heritage destruction can be sustained, and can result in legal consequences. These cases are the ICC prosecution of Ahmad Al Faqi Al-Mahdi, and the destruction and looting of cultural heritage in Syria. The following section will discuss these cases, and their media coverage.

7 Sarah Almukhtar, “The Strategy Behind the Islamic State’s destruction of Ancient Sites”, The New York Times, March 28 2016, Accessed February 16 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/29/world/middleeast/isis-historic-sites-control.html?_r=0

8The Gordon Residential School, the last federally run facility, closes in Saskatchewan in November 1996. Cited in CBC News, “A Timeline of Residential Schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission”, May 16 2008, Accessed February 16 2017, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-timeline-of-residential-schools-the-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-1.724434

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Syrian Cultural Heritage Destruction

The Syrian conflict presents us with the most widespread destruction of cultural heritage, both intentional and collateral, since the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.9_{The destruction of}

cultural heritage in Syria has included illicit excavations, the pillaging of museums, libraries, shops, galleries and homes, as well as the now famous ISIL destructions of various temples and museums. UNESCO stated in their report on the 'Trafficking of Cultural Heritage in Iraq and Syria':

The destruction of heritage in Syria and northern parts of Iraq is devastating … a heritage that has always played a central part in communities’ collective memory, pride of place and sense of identity, all of which are important factors in any future efforts to reconstruct a peaceful and prosperous life with a shared sense of purpose.10

Media headlines around the world covered the destruction, caused by both Bashar al-Assad and ISIL forces. The New York Times documented the looting of the site of Tell Mardikh, the ancient city of Ebla where large numbers of ancient texts from the second millennium have been excavated.11_{The Daily Mail reported that the medieval castle of Craq}

des Chevaliers, the best preserved castle of the European medieval design, was bombed by Assad forces between 2012 and 2014 after rebel factions took refuge there and then recaptured by Assad forces in early 2014.12_{Since May 2016, these two media outlets have}

reported on Syrian cultural heritage losses over 30 times.13_{Beyond such media attention, the}

situation of cultural heritage destruction in Syria has also resulted in UN and EU actions. These constitute a number of resolutions and frameworks, which will be outlined in greater

9 Patty Gerstenblith, “The Destruction of Cultural Heritage: A Crime against Property or a crime against people?”, The John

Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law 15 (2016), 344

10 UNESCO, Trafficking of Cultural Heritage in Iraq and Syria

11 C.J. Chivers, “Grave Robbers and War Steal Syria’s History”, The New York Times, Apr. 7, 2013, Accessed April 30 2017, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/world/middleeast/syrian-war-devastates-ancient-sites.html?pagewanted=all

12 James Rush, "It was fought over repeatedly during the Crusades—now this amazingly preserved 900-year-old Syrian castle is being destroyed as war returns to its walls", The Daily Mail, May 5 2014, Accessed May 3 2017,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2620468/Revealed-Crusaders-castle-real-life-siege-Syrian-civil-war-badly-damaging-900-year-old-fortifications.html

13 This section chose to focus on these two media outlets for several reasons: Firstly, that neither outlet was a Canadian newspaper (and therefore represented an international perspective); secondly, the New York Times is an American source, while the Daily Mail is a source from the United Kingdom; and thirdly, because these outlets are popular and their websites were easy to use. Of course it would have been interesting to delve deeper into other media outlets, and to look at a wider period of time- but seeing as media coverage in itself was not the focus of my thesis, I decided to limit my research into this.

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detail in Chapter Two. Although no ICC case has resulted from this interest, the prosecution of Ahmad Al Faqi Al-Mahdi has no doubt paved the way for such action.

International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecution of Ahmad Al Faqi Al-Mahdi

The ICC case of Al-Mahdi represented the first international example of an individual being held criminally responsible for the destruction of cultural heritage. A warrant for the arrest of Al-Mahdi was issued on 18 September 2015 in relation to his alleged responsibility for intentionally directing attacks against historic monuments and/or buildings dedicated to religion. This included nine mausoleums and one mosque in Timbuktu, Mali: the attacks against these sites allegedly occurring between about 30 June 2012 and 10 July 2012.14_{At the}

opening of the trial, on 22 August 2016, Mr. Al Mahdi admitted guilt to the war crime consisting of the destruction of historical and religious monuments. On 27 September 2016, Trial Chamber VIII of the ICC found Mr. Al Mahdi guilty, and sentenced him to nine years imprisonment. The judges said the destruction of nine mausoleums and the 500-year-old doors of the Sidi Yahia mosque at the UNESCO-listed site were of "significant gravity".15

The Chief Prosecutor-Fatou Bensouda- stated that Al-Mahdi’s jailing would give warning out there for "those who are committing the crimes... that this is a serious crime. It is a war crime and they will be held accountable for destroying these important sites".16_{The case also}

recognized the impact of this cultural heritage destruction on the communities in Mali. The media coverage of the court case and its wider significance was varied; once again focusing on the news outlets of the Daily Mail and the New York Times, the 'cultural heritage destruction in Mali' and the Al Mahdi case were covered over 58 times in the last twelve months.17

The ICC conviction of Al Mahdi demonstrated a historic turning point in international concern over cultural heritage destruction, and inspired further international action. One example is the recently pledged $75 million fund by world donors to an UNESCO-backed

14 ICC, Alleged crimes (non-exhaustive list), Accessed May 5 2017, https://www.icc-cpi.int/mali/al-mahdi/pages/alleged-crimes.aspx

15 AFP, "Timbuktu attacker jail term a 'warning' to others: ICC prosecutor", The Daily Mail, 27 September 2016, Accessed May 5 2017,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3809886/Jail-term-Timbuktu-attacks-warning-ICC-prosecutor.html

16 AFP, Timbuktu attacker jail term, 27 September 2016

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alliance to protect cultural heritage sites threatened by war and the wave of ideological-driven destruction carried out by ISIL. Former French President François Hollande spoke at a donor's conference in Paris, stating that "at Bamiyan, Mosul, Palmyra, Timbuktu and elsewhere, fanatics have engaged in trafficking, looting and the destruction of cultural heritage, adding to the persecution of populations."18_{The combination of international fears}

over ISIL more generally, and the concrete legal action regarding cultural heritage destruction as presented in the Al Mahdi case no doubt helped to catalyze the aforementioned fund for cultural heritage protection. It remains to be seen how much can really be done to preserve cultural heritage under threat from ISIL, as existing international measures have so far been unsuccessful in deterring such destruction.

Media Coverage of Inuit Cultural Heritage Losses

When we compare the media coverage by The New York Times and The Daily Mail regarding cultural heritage losses in Mali and Syria, to the coverage of the cultural heritage losses of the Inuit, and their contemporary concerns, the results are startling. In The New York Times, over the last twelve months only one article has been produced relating to the Inuit. Ironically, this article was in fact about Robert Flaherty, the maker of the documentary Nanook of the North.19_{Another article was written regarding an opera performed for Canada's 150}th

birthday: Harry Somers’s “Louis Riel,” tells the story a young Metis man who led two 19th-century uprisings against the young nation of Canada, helped found the province of Manitoba, and was later hanged for treason.20_{The article discussed indigenous resistance to}

participating in Canada's 150th_{celebrations, but did not delve deeper than the issue of}

including indigenous people in the production of the opera. The Daily Mail published 10 articles in the last year related to the Inuit, or Canada's indigenous people more broadly. One article even focused on Ellesmere Island, although it focused on the harsh living conditions there for the residents of the military installation at 'Alert', not on the history of Inuit

18 Associated Press, "World Donors Pledge Over $75 Million to Protect Heritage Sites Destroyed by ISIS", TIME, 20 March 2017, Accessed May 5 2017, http://time.com/4706508/world-donors-heritage-isis/

19 Andy Webster, "Robert J. Flaherty, Who Blurred the Line Between Nonfiction and Fiction in Film", The New York

Times, August 3 2016, Accessed May 7 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/07/movies/robert-j-flaherty-who-blurred-the-line-between-nonfiction-and-fiction-in-film.html?_r=0

20 Michael Cooper, "Canada Turns 150, but a Silent Chorus Isn’t Celebrating", The New York Times, April 19 2017, Accessed May 7 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/arts/music/canada-turns-150-but-a-silent-chorus-isnt-celebrating.html

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relocations to the island.21_{The rest of the articles were related to Arctic history, and}

environmental challenges in the region. It is beyond the scope of this thesis to delve more deeply into media coverage over a wider time period- no doubt there was more international attention focused on indigenous issues when the TRC was in operation. However, this media comparison briefly demonstrates the contemporary reality of the international media focus.

The media is not the only way in which cultural heritage destruction, and indigenous concerns more broadly can become visible- political action by national and international leaders can also make a big difference. For example, politically within Canada, there has been some concrete action and support given by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since he took office in November 2015. Importantly, Trudeau took action alongside former US President Barack Obama in March 2016, regarding the protection of Arctic environments and collaboration with indigenous communities and leaders on this issue. The agreement focused on conserving Arctic biodiversity, incorporating indigenous knowledge and concerns in a range of decision making processes, and supporting Arctic communities. The latter focused specifically on realizing the social, cultural and economic potential of all indigenous and northern Communities, as well as committing to greater action to address issues of mental wellness, education, indigenous language and skill development.22_{This agreement provided}

important recognition of the role that the Inuit must play in the environmental protection and management of the Arctic.23_{However, other commitments regarding indigenous concerns in}

Canada have yet to be realized: one example is the promise made by Trudeau in December 2016, stating that Canada would be proposing a Canadian Indigenous Languages Act.24_Since

this time, little progress has been made: this lack of headway has been noted by indigenous elders, such as High Arctic relocation survivor Larry Audlaluk25_{, who stated that he was no}

longer sure Trudeau would improve indigenous fortunes within Canada.26

21 Ted Thornhill, "Four months of darkness a year, temperatures that freeze eyeballs and the nearest town is 340 miles away: Inside the most northerly settlement in the world", The Daily Mail, 9 February 2017, Accessed 8 May 2017,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-4207688/Inside-Alert-northerly-settlement-world.html

22 "U.S.-Canada Joint Statement on Climate, Energy, and Arctic Leadership", Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada: News, 10 March 2016, Accessed 8 May 2017,http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2016/03/10/us-canada-joint-statement-climate-energy-and-arctic-leadership

23 However, the agreement is currently under threat from the new Trump administration, which so far has failed to engage with indigenous concerns, both domestically and internationally.

24 Betty Harnum,“Justin Trudeau's proposed Indigenous languages act will need teeth to succeed”, CBC News, December 16 2016, Accessed June 15 2017, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/betty-harnum-indigenous-languages-act-1.3897121

25 Larry Audlaluk was interviewed due to his experiences in the High Arctic Relocations, but also because of his experience of the legacies of the relocations and the personal challenges he has faced to reconnect with his Inuk identity and culture. 26 Larry Audlaluk (Inuit elder and High Arctic Relocation survivor), in conversation with the author, June 12 2017

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A positive domestic Canadian initiative is that of the #IndigenousReads campaign, which aims to encourage reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples through the sharing of indigenous literature. Through #IndigenousReads, the Government of Canada hopes to encourage reconciliation by increasing Canadians' understanding of Indigenous issues, cultures, and history.27_{Alongside the campaign, the newly formed}

National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls must also be praised. Prime Minister Trudeau also took action on National Aboriginal Day on 21 June 2016 in Canada, engaging publicly in indigenous customs/ ceremonies, and calling on Canadians more generally to engage with indigenous heritage.28_{The government run website}

for National Aboriginal Day provides various learning resources and information on government relations with indigenous people across Canada.29_{The website focused around}

the themes of reconciliation and success stories from indigenous communities; it is significant that the website does not discuss government failures, or continuing indigenous concerns.

When delving more deeply into the Canadian government's online resources relating to indigenous peoples, we come across 'Aboriginal History in Canada': despite mentioning residential schools, this page mentions nothing about the qimmiit killings or High Arctic relocations which this thesis will discuss. Such a selection represents a management of Canada's national narrative; events from the past and present have been deemed as 'unusable' in the creation of this narrative, and hence are sidelined, even from public resources. The selection of events for this history and national narrative relates to the question of which past to remember; in Canada, such selections have been driven by a desire to remember Canada's multicultural heritage, rather than its colonial past. The selection of usable history may broadly be understood as the creation of a good future out of a bad past.30_{This cherry-picking}

of the 'usable' past is not unique to Canada, but has occurred all over the world, following colonial rule or repressive rule more generally. For example, Russia has a long history of managing national and public memory by repressing, controlling, or even co-opting the

27 About #IndigenousReads, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Government of Canada, https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1472736453262/1472736477408#read

28 Alexandra Genova, "Justin Trudeau celebrates National Aboriginal Day with Sunrise Ceremony as he calls on Canada to learn more about its indigenous peoples' heritage", The Daily Mail, 21 June 2016, Accessed May 9 2017,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3653021/Justin-Trudeau-celebrates-National-Aboriginal-Day-Sunrise-Ceremony-calls-Canada-learn-indigenous-peoples-heritage.html

29 National Aboriginal Day, Government of Canada, https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100013248/1100100013249

30 Nanci Adler, "The Future of Unwanted Histories", Raamop Rusland, 5 May 2017, Accessed May 10 2017,

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memory of repression.31_{Just as an acknowledgement of culpability in Stalinist crimes}

undermines much of Russia's national narrative today, an acknowledgement of Canada's past racist and paternalistic policies towards indigenous people would undermine the narrative of multiculturalism, inclusion and tolerance. History becomes politicized in such cases.

Internationally, indigenous concerns have gained some traction in recent years, especially following the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (hereafter UNDRIP) in 2007. In May 2016, Canada said that it would support the U.N. declaration, ending more than eight years of opposition to the historic document.32_{Despite these improvements, there are many problems which remain outside of}

Canada’s ‘usable past’. This leads us to the question of how can we explain ‘invisible’ destruction, and the disparity in media and political interest in indigenous concerns? This thesis posits that such struggles remain ‘invisible’ because indigenous concerns are not prioritized by national governments; such marginalization of this issue is mirrored by the media and international institutions. In relation to these specific cases of Syria and the Inuit, is it possible to highlight why the international interest and response has differed so greatly? There are a variety of factors at play in this disparity: international concerns, national attitudes, and the demotion of indigenous rights/ cultures more broadly.

Explaining the disparities in media and international attention

i) International Concerns

Undeniably, the case of Syria has dominated international interest due to wider concerns over the growth of Islamic extremism and terrorism, particularly as embodied by ISIL. Although the destruction of cultural heritage by terrorists has occurred before- such as the 2001 Taliban destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan- the scale of destruction in Syria has been eye catching. Scholars writing for the journal ‘InVisible Culture’ posit that the fascination with events in Syria was caused by a more general mass-media fascination with traumatic events, and the proliferation of images of disaster and horror.33_{Disasters- such as}

31 Nanci Adler, The Future of Unwanted Histories, Raamdop Rusland

32 Associated Press, "Canada says it will support UN indigenous rights declaration", The Daily Mail, 10 May 2016, Accessed 11 May 2017, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3581750/Canada-says-support-UN-indigenous-rights-declaration.html

33 Sudeep Dasgupta, “Multiple Symptoms and the Visible Real: Culture, Media and the Displacements of Vision”,

InVisible Culture 10, March 20 2006, Accessed February 6 2017, https://ivc.lib.rochester.edu/multiple-symptoms-and-the-visible-real-culture-media-and-the-displacements-of-vision/

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the destruction of the Temple of Baal in 2016- therefore appeal to a mass audience because they are unpredictable.34_{Professor of Media and Culture Sudeep Dasgupta argues that this}

obsession with trauma and destruction is linked to the media’s raison d’etre- the hunt for higher media ratings, and suggests that we are therefore shown shocking and violent news stories because we are more likely to watch them. Regardless of whether Dasgupta is correct in proposing that mass media favours violent and traumatic news stories, it cannot be denied that the destruction of cultural heritage in Syria was international news, whereas the destruction of cultural heritage of the indigenous people in Canada has never reached the same levels of attention. When we consider the wealth of sources available on this topic of indigenous cultural heritage destruction in Canada, it is surprising that international attention has not been greater, and that the discussion of these issues has not been at the forefront of the global cultural heritage protection movement. The Canadian case offers us important insights into the long-term consequences of cultural heritage destruction. In December 2015, the seven-year-long Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada submitted its final report, stating that

“Residential schools are a tragic part of Canada’s history. But they cannot simply be consigned to history. The legacy from the schools and the political and legal policies and mechanisms surrounding their history continue to this day. This is reflected in the significant educational, income, health, and social disparities between Aboriginal people and other Canadians. It is reflected in the intense racism some people harbour against Aboriginal people and in the systemic and other forms of discrimination Aboriginal people regularly experience in this country. It is reflected too in the critically endangered status of most Aboriginal languages.”35

The final report highlighted that historical cultural losses had a direct link to the contemporary concerns facing indigenous communities across Canada. We can also see from this case that remnants of the attitudes which previously deemed indigenous culture as inferior remain in contemporary Canadian society and inform the widespread discrimination against indigenous peoples there.

34 Ibid.

35 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Canada, “Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada” (2015), 135

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ii) National Attitudes

The unsung nature of indigenous issues can be linked to continued perceptions that indigenous cultures are inferior; for example, in relation to the oral culture of the Aborigines of Australia, scholars have highlighted that their “unwritten past is belittled as ‘pre-history’, due to the widespread postulation that written cultural history is superior.36_{Despite small}

improvements, the notion remains that traditional indigenous cultures are a barrier to the socioeconomic progress of indigenous peoples.37_{Assumptions of inferiority relating to}

indigenous cultures are demonstrated most shockingly by contemporary examples of violence and discrimination against indigenous peoples. One example is the ‘Intervention’ in the Northern Territory of Australia under the government of Prime Minister John Howard in 2007. The Intervention was supposedly motivated by child abuse allegations which had been highlighted in the ‘Little Children are Sacred Report’38_{, but the government responded with a}

six-month alcohol ban for northern Aborigine communities, medical checks on every indigenous child under the age of 1639_{, and bringing the Army into Aborigine communities to}

supervise such checks. Such actions were reminiscent of federal authorities coming into Aboriginal communities to take away half caste children in the early to mid-20th_{century. The}

‘Intervention’ required the suspension of the Federal Racial Discrimination Act (1975), and represented the inability of the Australian government to engage indigenous peoples in solutions aimed at indigenous issues. The Intervention also increased police surveillance and harassment of Aboriginal people; for example, in one week of April 2008, more than 120 Aborigines were detained by police in Alice Springs.40

In Canada, indigenous activists have taken the Canadian government to court on numerous occasions over discrimination: for example, in 2007, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada held the Canadian

36 J. Edward Chamberlin, ‘From Hand to Mouth: The Postcolonial Politics of Oral and Written Traditions’, in Reclaiming

Indigenous Voice and Vision, edited by Marie Battiste, (UBC Press: Vancouver Canada, 2000), 140

37 Alfred Michael Dockery, “Culture and Wellbeing: The Case of Indigenous Australians”, Social Indicators Research 99(2), (2010): 317

38 The report was largely written by Aborigine elders, and had aimed to examine the community issues that contributed to child abuse. The report emphasized the importance of community based measures to address such abuse. The report also posited that the abuse was part of a larger breakdown of indigenous society- identifying drug abuse, poor health and social services, and poverty as the causes.

Rex Wild & Patricia Anderson, “Little Children are Sacred: Report of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse”, Northern Territory Government, 30 April 2007

39 Minority Rights (2008) “Australian Aboriginals”, 2008, Accessed February 17, 2017

http://www.minorityrights.org/2603/australia/aborigines.html

40 WSWS, (2008) “Conditions of Aboriginal People in Alice Springs and the Town Camps”, International Committee of

the Fourth International Publishing (ICFI), April 7, 2008, Accessed February 18, 2017,

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government accountable before the Canadian Human Rights Commission for its current treatment of over 160,000 First Nations children resident on reserves. The complaint alleged that the government discriminated against these children, providing them with less child welfare funding and benefit than off-reserve children. In 2016, the AFN won their case: the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that there was sufficient evidence to establish discrimination under Section 5 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.41

iii) Marginalization of Indigenous Rights & Cultures

To begin to understand how such assumptions of inferiority still exist in relation to indigenous cultures, and lead to government led discrimination and violence, it is important to note that processes of decolonization are largely incomplete in countries such as Canada and Australia. Indigenous people continue to battle for the rights which were outlined by the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The landmark declaration came after years of negotiations and revisions, and most importantly stated that “indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination.42_{” Self-determination is defined}

here as “nondiscrimination, cultural integrity, control over land and resources, social welfare and development and self-government43_{”; this definition outlines rights which are currently}

limited for many indigenous peoples and their cultures. These rights are limited due to incomplete processes of decolonization and continued discrimination; such structures and attitudes keep indigenous stories of cultural heritage loss ‘invisible’. Although the UNDRIP was considered a turning point in indigenous fortunes, many national governments have chosen to ignore the principles outlined. Indigenous peoples continue to fight for land rights, compensation for past wrongs, recognition of their culture and greater self-determination and self-governance. These struggles have on occasion made national and international headlines, but such attention rarely yields domestic action. The protests of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in Dakota against the Dakota Access Pipeline offer us an example of such domestic challenges; the protests have been ongoing over the last year, and have consistently gained widespread media attention and international support. The Sioux and their supporters have protested for their right to clean water, and because the pipeline would cross the Tribe’s

41 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT), “Decision in the Case of the AFN and the Federal Government of Canada”, (2016), Section 6, para: 456, p.160, http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/2016_chrt_2.pdf, Accessed February 28, 2016

42 The United Nations, “United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, Article 3

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traditional and ancestral lands, jeopardizing sites of cultural and religious significance.44_Such

spaces are sacred to many indigenous groups, although they are often not recognized by national governments or the public; intangible heritage is particularly relevant in these cases. In response to the protests, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram exploded with the hashtag #StandwithStandingRock; social media made the world care about the concerns of the tribe-they were no longer invisible. Despite this attention, widespread protests and a permanent camp remaining at the construction site, President Trump signed an executive memo aimed at allowing the Dakota Access Company to finish the last segment of the pipeline.45

Beyond these contemporary examples of the marginalization of indigenous rights, perhaps the greatest loss which has had transgenerational effects for indigenous peoples has been the destruction of cultural heritage. Such destruction is not purely material, but also involve losses of identity, community, and connections to the environment. The following are two examples of this kind of cultural heritage destruction.

i) Yamal Nenets

The Yamal Nenets are indigenous reindeer pastoralists in North-Western Siberia; their traditional way of life revolving around seasonal migration with their reindeer herds, travelling thousands of kilometres each year.46_{Nenets violent uprisings took place in 1933,}

1939 and 1941 against Soviet restrictions and taxes, which essentially amounted to the Nenets being forced to give some of their private reindeer to the state to help the war effort.47

However, the Nenets did not receive food supplies in return, and many saw no other choice than resistance. These acts of resistance were quashed brutally by the Soviet authorities, with many Nenets men being murdered, and their families forced to migrate with only 10 reindeer each.48_{Such policies and the loss of reindeer meant that the remaining Nenets women and}

children were at risk of starvation, and had to move from village to village hoping to find

44Stand with Standing Rock, “History”, 2017, Accessed February 7, 2017, http://standwithstandingrock.net/history/

45 Emily Dreyfuss, “Social Media made the World care about Standing Rock- and helped it forget”, Wired News, January 24 2017, Accessed February 13 2017, https://www.wired.com/2017/01/social-media-made-world-care-standing-rock-helped-forget/

46Roza Laptander, “Processes of Remembering and Forgetting: Tundra Nenets’ Reminiscences of the 1943 Mandalada Rebellions”, Sibirica 13(3) (2014): 22

47Roza Laptander, Processes of Remembering and Forgetting, 28

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work.49_{Under Stalin, Nenets communities were split into groups known as brigades, and}

forced to live on collective farms and villages called kolkhozy.50_{As in many other indigenous}

histories, Nenets children were separated from their families and sent to government-run boarding schools, where they were forbidden to speak their own language.51_{Although Nenets}

culture survived and many still live a nomadic lifestyle today, Soviet policies greatly damaged the livelihoods of many families, forcing them into cities as a result and preventing intergenerational culture transfer.

ii) Canadian Inuit

Between 1920 and 1970, the Inuit of Canada experienced sudden and sweeping changes to their traditional way of life and culture.52_{During this process of change, several Inuit}

traditions were damaged or outright destroyed. One example is the widespread sled dog killings which occurred in the 1950s-1970s: some 20,000 dogs were killed by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (hereafter RCMP) forces in the Artic. The Federal Government released the Dog Ordinance of the Northwest Territories originally in 1949, partially in response to the movement of Inuit into new settlements, calling on the RCMP to destroy all loose dogs in and around these settlements. Traditionally Inuit sled dogs had been allowed to roam free when they were not at work, and this posed health and safety risks in crowded settlements. Inuit who did not yet live on settlements also had their dog team shot- many Inuit “still believe that their dogs were deliberately killed as part of a government policy to force them off the land”53_{. Beyond this, the policy of shooting Inuit dogs meant that the Inuit}

semi-nomadic way of life became impossible. Peter Audlaluk highlighted that when Inuit were training pups in a team, they became members of the family: “it was the dogs that taught us about our land…We totally depended on our dogs.”54

49 Ibid., p. 31-34

50 Survival International, “The Nenets of Siberia”, 2017, Accessed February 21, 2017,

http://www.survivalinternational.org/photo-stories/3198-the-nenets-of-siberia

51 Ibid.

52Allison Crawford, “The Trauma Experienced by Generations Past having an Effect on their Descendants”: Narrative and Historical Trauma among Inuit in Nunavut”, Transcultural Psychiatry 51(3) (2014): 340

53 Gjerstad, Ole, Qimmiit: A Clash of Two Truths, DVD, Directed by Joelie Sanguya (2010; Clyde River: Piksuk Media), 2:41

54 Peter Audlaluk, Igloolik (Nunavut) quoted in Qimmiit: A Clash of Two Truths (2010; Clyde River: Piksuk Media), 10:55-12:30

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The Inuit have claimed that the Canadian government subjected them to cultural heritage losses intentionally. This accusation, and the question of federal government intentions during the 1950-1970 time period has been the subject of commissions55_{by the}

RCMP, the Inuit and the provincial government of Quebec. Inuit cultural heritage losses have gained some national attention in recent years, but they have never received much international concern- despite the rising contemporary risks facing Inuit cultural heritage (such as those posed by climatic changes). These modern threats to Inuit culture have been summarised by The Nunavut Climate Change Centre:

Communities’ ability to cope and adapt to climate change will be limited by factors such as housing, poverty, food security, language, modernization, and the erosion of traditional land-based skills. All of these factors have direct impacts on the maintenance of Inuit cultural identity, and the well-being of Nunavummiut.56

As mentioned earlier, the disparities in media coverage, international attention, and court cases and so on-between indigenous cases of cultural heritage destruction and the cultural heritage destruction in Syria for example- need to be understood. It is the contention of this thesis that the contrast in attention and importance which have been assigned to these respective cases cannot be explained simply by arguing that the destruction in Syria is happening right now, and therefore grabs our attention. Such an argument would not account for why court cases such as the ICTY case against former Prime minister of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, Jadranko Prlic, and five other high ranking Croat officials regarding the destruction of the Mostar Bridge57_{were considered so important, or why the}

ICC decided to prosecute Al-Mahdi for cultural heritage destruction in Mali. It is obvious that the international community cares about cultural heritage destruction and wishes to prevent it; however, where it has failed, has been in its inability to examine properly the cases offered by the colonial and decolonization periods of history, and ensure justice for indigenous victims

55 The Inuit were also a party to the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which addressed the federal policy of residential schools for indigenous children. Although this process, and its final report, gathered some international attention, because the wider suffering of the Inuit was not addressed, this thesis does not consider this to be an example of international attention for the case of Inuit cultural heritage losses.

56 Nunavut Climate Change Center, “Climate Change Impacts”, Accessed 2 June 2017,

http://climatechangenunavut.ca/en/understanding-climate-change/climate-change-impact

57ICTY, “Six Senior Herceg-Bosna Officials Convicted”, 29 May 2013, Accessed February 24, 2017, http://www.icty.org/en/press/six-senior-herceg-bosna-officials-convicted

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of cultural losses. Such historical cases also provide us with important lessons about the legacies of cultural heritage losses.

The ‘invisible’ nature of the cultural heritage destruction of the Inuit peoples, the continued marginalisation of their plight on the international and national levels, and the legacies of such cultural losses, forms the core of this thesis. There exists a wealth of largely untapped sources regarding the cultural heritage losses suffered by the Inuit people, and yet this particular area of cultural heritage destruction research has not received much academic attention. Much of the research on the Inuit has focused on their cultural practices and traditions, such as Inuit throat singing, or contrastingly, on the contemporary threat of climate change facing the people of the Artic more broadly. This lack of research highlights that the marginalisation of indigenous peoples, their cultures, and their cultural losses, forms a continuous process (even within academic research). However, this thesis will aim to address this marginalisation and bring the issue of Inuit cultural heritage destruction and Inuit perspectives on this into greater clarity.

Chapter Two

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The Polish scholar Raphael Lemkin envisaged that the crime of ‘genocide’ consisted of the deliberate destruction of a nation in one of two ways; immediately through mass killings, or through coordinated actions aimed at the destruction of the essential foundations of group life.58_{This argument was informed by Lemkin’s belief that culture was as necessary for}

human group life as basic needs were for individual physical wellbeing; culture constituted a basic need for human existence and therefore its destruction was a form of genocide.59_Before

examining cultural genocide as a term, or discussing whether it has occurred in the case studies this thesis will examine, we must return to cultural heritage and its destruction. This chapter seeks to achieve the following: to present a more complete understanding of what cultural heritage constitutes, to examine how cultural heritage informs group identities and

58Christopher Powell, “What do genocides kill? A Relational Conception of Genocide”, Journal of Genocide Research 9(4) (2007), 534

59 A. Dirk Moses, Empire, Colony, Genocide: Conquest, Occupation, and Subaltern Resistance in World History (New York: Berghahn Books, 2009), 12

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cohesion, and to outline the evolution of international interest in cultural heritage protection. Such discussions shall be closely linked to Inuit cultural heritage losses.

Defining Cultural Heritage

Under the 2005 Framework Convention on the Value of Heritage for Society, cultural heritage comprises a “group of resources inherited from the past which people identify, independently of ownership, as a reflection and expression of their constantly evolving values, beliefs, knowledge and traditions”.60_{This definition of heritage first rose to}

international importance following the Second World War: since that time, this conception has maintained the relationship between cultural heritage and conflict, subsequently informing the belief that ‘damage to cultural property belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind, since each people makes its contribution to the culture of the world’ and therefore that ‘heritage should receive international protection’.61_{Over time, the international heritage doctrine has continually}

emphasized this link as a relation between heritage preservation and cultural identity, investing heritage with pivotal functions in intergroup reconciliation, and intercultural dialogue.62_{This conception of the role of heritage in conflict situations is important when we}

examine the motivations for the destruction of cultural heritage, and the role cultural heritage plays in society following a conflict. In many post-conflict, and post-genocidal situations, cultural traditions can be utilised to reconnect individuals with their culture and empower them. However, cultural heritage and the memory of cultural heritage destruction can also be utilised to maintain ethnic divisions; in these situations, cultural heritage can be used to produce statements about the conflict itself. These arguments shall be returned to later on in this chapter.

60 Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, 27. X. 2005, Council of Europe Treaty Series- No. 199, Article 2

61 The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two (1954 and 1999) Protocols, UNESCO, Preamble

62 Maja Musi, “The International heritage doctrine and the management of heritage in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina: the case of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments”, International Journal of Heritage Studies 20(1) (2014), 64

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Arts Editor of the Wall Street Journal, Eric Gibson, argues that cultural heritage is more than just pretty objects lined up in a museum or tourist sites to visit on a vacation. “It is at once a record of our shared past, a way of understanding ourselves and each other, and the product of the best in us. The destruction of art and artifacts represents an attack on history, identity and civilization”.63_{Gibson’s definition reminds us that cultural heritage may not always be}

what we assume: it is both artifacts in a museum, and rivers which are used to perform sacred ceremonies; both ancient temples, and stories of a group’s history. Gibson’s definition also highlights that we must understand the different forms of cultural heritage, and so we turn to what is meant by tangible and intangible heritage. UNESCO defines tangible heritage as “buildings and historic places, monuments, artifacts, etc., which are considered worthy of preservation for the future. These include objects significant to the archaeology, architecture, science or technology of a specific culture.”64_{Intangible cultural heritage includes languages,}

religious practices, and access to cultural and religious sites and structures.65_{Researcher Patty}

Gerstenblith- who served on the US President’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee from 2000 to 2003- highlights that as the study of cultural heritage has evolved and become more important, we can see ever more clearly the direct link between the ability to perform and observe traditional and religious practices and the ability to access tangible cultural heritage, including sites, historic structures, and the physical embodiments of intangible culture in written documents and cultural artefacts.66_{Tangible and intangible heritage therefore inform}

one another, and imbue each other with meaning67_{; for example, for indigenous peoples}

around the world, their intangible culture as represented in their religious practices is deeply connected to the tangible culture as represented by the land and environment around them. If we accept this interconnected nature of indigenous tangible and intangible cultural heritages, then we can begin to understand why the loss of land is not simply a material loss, or why the loss of a tradition cannot be easily remedied. The loss of the Inuit semi-nomadic way of life due to federal policies in the 1960s can be placed firmly within this understanding of cultural losses and cultural connectivity.

63 Eric Gibson, “ISIL Destruction of Idols in Mosul, Iraq”, Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2015, accessed October 24 2016,

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-destruction-of-cultural-heritage-should-be-a-war-crime-1425073230

64 UNESCO, “Tangible Cultural Heritage”, UNESCO Office in Cairo, Accessed March 14 2017,

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/cairo/culture/tangible-cultural-heritage/

65 Patty Gerstenblith, The Destruction of Cultural Heritage, 344

66 Ibid.

67 Marie Louise Stig Sorensen & Dacia Viego-Rose, “The Impact of Conflict on Cultural Heritage: A Biographical Lens”, in War and Cultural Heritage: Biographies of Place edited by Marie Louise Stig Sorensen & Dacia Viego-Rose,

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Cultural Heritage and its Relationship to Group Identity and Cohesion

Cultural heritage, and especially material cultural heritage is often used (or misused) to create and support narratives that serve as the basis on which identities are constructed.68_The

creation of such narratives is complemented by the theory of cultural heritage as the expression of the culture and history of communities: such heritage therefore requires preservation, in order to enable each individual to freely enjoy his/her own rights to culture and partake in its development.69_{This centrality of heritage arose from its theorisation as an}

essential ‘component of the cultural identity of communities, groups and individuals, and of social cohesion’, forming part of that ‘system of cultural references’ that ‘bears witness’ of the past and should be handed down to future generations.70_{Briefly, these arguments}

demonstrate that the connections between cultural heritage and group identity are widely accepted. The sociologist Leo Driedger71_{generally established that a person may identify}

with others on two possible collective levels: 1) cultural or ethnic identity, and 2) civic or political identity. In relation to the Inuit of Canada, such collective identification is also closely related to the historical, cultural and political characteristics of a region. Collective identity therefore cannot be limited to the shared language or traditions of the Inuit; collective identity is closely related in this case to the distinctiveness of the socio-cultural symbols of the Artic, which rest on the climate and wildlife, as well as in socio-political traits.72_Cultural

heritage is important to group identity not only because it provides a link to a group’s past and future, but also as cultural heritage can mean the region in which a group resides.

These links and the importance of cultural heritage in informing and supporting group identity and cohesion is also demonstrated by the continuous targeting of cultural heritage, throughout conflicts in history. Historian Maja Musi posits that heritage which is interpreted as the signifier of memories and identities is rapidly, and effectively turned into a (military)

68 Dzenan Sahovic & Dino Zulumovic, “Obsolete Cultural Heritage in Post Conflict Environments. The Case of AVNOJ Museum in Jajce, Bosnia Herzegovina”, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies 14(2) (2012), 245

69 Sara McDowell, “Heritage, memory and identity”, in The Ashgate research companion to heritage and identity edited by B. Graham & P. Howard, (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008), 38

70 UNESCO Declaration Concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage, UNESCO (2003), Preamble

71 Leo Driedger, the Ethnic Factor. Identity in Diversity (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd, 1989)

72 Andre Legare, “Inuit Identity and Regionalization in the Canadian Central and Eastern Artic: a survey of writings about Nunavut”, Polar Geography 31(3-4) (2008), 110

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target, when history and territory become contested.73_{Cultural heritage can be deliberately}

targeted to damage an opponent’s morale. The consequences of this form of violence pan out over a long period: from the immediate shock and grief, to a protracted period of mourning over the loss, to long term feelings of resentment, and finally resulting in a generation that grows up without the materiality of that cultural referent.74_{Only by considering this long}

view is it possible to begin to appreciate the full impact of violence on cultural heritage.75

Such targeting of cultural heritage can be observed in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereafter BiH) during the Yugoslav wars from 1991-1995. Until the 1990s, the built cultural heritage of BiH offered a powerful image of centuries-long development of a pluralist and heterogeneous shared cultural space.76_{The conflict of the 1990s brought about a}

massive destruction of tangible cultural heritage, carried out systematically to damage in particular, religious buildings, buildings of cultural institutions such as libraries, museums and archives, and items that could be assumed as symbols of the ‘Other’.77_{During this}

conflict, tangible cultural heritage was reinterpreted in essentialist terms, and this interpretation catalysed the deliberate targeting of culture and religion.

Political scientist, Dzenan Sahovic, and Bosnian historian, Dino Zulumovic,78_have

outlined the process of cultural heritage destruction that took place across the region, demonstrating that as ethnic tensions mounted, local leaders sought to eliminate the messages of ‘brotherhood’ and ‘unity’ from the socialist past. In this process, the cultural heritage events from WWII, as well as heritage commemorating partisan resistance against the occupier was perceived as threatening to the narrative of broad national 'awakening'79_{. The}

history and cultural heritage of unity and ethnic diversity in the region directly challenged the new narratives of ethnic nationalism and desires of national ethnic homogenisation. A new narrative needed to be created in order to promote these new political goals, and alongside this management of narrative came a destruction of culture. Alongside the destruction of the socialist past came the destruction of cultural heritage which belonged to other ethnic groups;

73 Maja Musi, The International heritage doctrine, 58

74 Marie Louise Stig Sorensen & Dacia Viego-Rose, The Impact of Conflict on Cultural Heritage, 9

75 Ibid.

76 Maja Musi, The International heritage doctrine, 54

77 Michael Sells, “Crosses of blood: sacred space, religion, and violence in Bosnia-Hercegovina”, Sociology of Religion, 64 (3) (2003), 310

78 Dzenan Sahovic & Dino Zulumovic, “Obsolete Cultural Heritage in Post Conflict Environments. The Case of AVNOJ Museum in Jajce, Bosnia Herzegovina”, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies 14(2) (2012), 245-262