YORKTON - There are ongoing efforts to determine how best to portray history moving forward.
That effort is ‘The Heritage Reset’.
“Launched in 2021, The Heritage Reset is a project led by the National Trust in concert with a consortium of national and provincial-territorial heritage organizations. The Reset project has, to date, been researching, exploring and agreeing with our partner organizations to determine a unifying path forward for the sector. The aim is to build a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive heritage sector – one that is furnished with common goals and powerful messages and the ability to be meaningful to and relevant for a larger audience,” detailed nationaltrustcanada.ca
Locally, those attending a Heritage Day event at the Yorkton branch of the WDM, were given some insight into the ‘reset’ by Hayden DeGrow, archivist with the City of Yorkton.
The Heritage ‘Reset’ can be seen as a means to review and realign the focus of heritage and historical records to incorporate the changes in modern society, he said.
The changes however are quite varied too, including things such as climate change creating differing views on outdoor venues, decolonization, Truth and Reconciliation, cultural diversification, and economic such as continued urbanization, COVID closures, and redistributing funds.
In terms of environmental changes DeGrow noted, museums, heritage organizations, and historians all have to take their local environment into consideration when planning the way they present their stories.
Another wrinkle has presented itself,” he added.
“Modern-day society as a whole is experiencing painful reminders of Earth’s changing climate. Though I will not get into detail about how this is happening, the fact remains that it is happening, and a fourth adaptation is required.”
Environmental change also includes an evolving view of fossil fuels.
Many museums, both in Saskatchewan and across the world, utilize fossil-fuel-powered facilities and machinery, a technology that is rapidly becoming obsolete in societal eyes, offered DeGrow.
Old trains, tractors, and road vehicles that run off of diesel, gas or steam from coal or oil are in serious danger of being forgotten as their fuel sources become less popular or even less available, he continued.
On top of this, many old buildings that are unable to be retrofitted with cleaner sources of heating and power are being brought into question.
“The whole mindset around the fossil-fuel industry has changed, which means that it is not always agreeable to discuss it in a historical setting. This has led to many museums and historians having to toe thin lines around the topic as they tell their local histories.”
But there may be opportunity too in terms of changing energy,
“Museums have found themselves in a difficult situation, as they are usually large buildings that have large power and heating requirements. However, though this makes their budgets rather tight, it also has opened up an opportunity.
“That opportunity is to use their large roofs for solar panels that help reduce their carbon footprint. Many museums have also gotten grants to build other sources of power, allowing them to go completely off-grid. This change is one that is difficult and expensive to begin, but the outcome is generally well-rewarding in the end.”
Perhaps more significant are the socio-cultural changes.
The heritage sector as a whole is obviously dependant on the culture or mix of cultures that it resides in. Cultures form the foundation of what the sector presents and how it is presented. However, cultures are not a fixed thing; they change every year, said DeGrow.
“In order to remain current and relevant, it is necessary that the sector also has to roll with these changes as well, adapting their histories and methods to the new concepts and agreed upon facts,” he said.
These changes can include:
*Adding, or in certain cases revising, parts of history to cater to the latest facts and figures of history.
*Recognizing that old terms and phrases used in the telling of the stories are no longer tolerable and utilizing new terms in their place.
*Celebrating new cultures that get added into a region’s quilt, and recognizing them in the history.
Also under the heading socio-cultural change is the issue of decolonization.
“One of the biggest concepts of change that has come to light is decolonization,” said DeGrow. “This concept centres around the issues that have plagued nations, cultures, and races that have deep histories of being colonies of European or Asian powers.
“Though the most obvious is the mistreatment and even genocidal fates of the world’s Indigenous Peoples, with entire civilizations dying out due to Eurasian conquest, there are times with different circumstances.”
DeGrow said specific examples include:
*The Holocaust, where German government programs persecuted people of specific races, religions, and medical difficulties in order to create what was thought to be an ideal, or “Aryan” race. Some people see this as a German effort to colonize areas of their own country in order to bring their beliefs upon ones that disagree with them.
*The Holodomor, where Ukrainian peoples of low incomes, or peasants as they were known back then, were resisting Soviet policies in favour of their traditional ways, which resulted in the people getting systematically starved The Soviet Union was created out of areas that were once part of the Russian Empire, which had conquered and colonized lands that did include Ukraine.
*Rwanda suffering from a civil war due to a tribe conflict escalating out of control. Some attribute this to the after-effects of European colonization, but others say that conflicts like these existed long before colonization, and have simply been amplified by modern technology. It has been seen as intra-national colonization
“No matter the origins of the colonization, the efforts in the present day to right the wrongs performed in the past are hard to ignore,” he said.
Languages, histories, beliefs, and even entire races, having long laid dormant due to outdated or unjust laws and policies, have resurfaced due to these efforts, and that is impactful.
Countries such as Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and South Africa have seen substantial resurgences in the popularity and impact of their Indigenous Peoples, while European powers and descendant of colonizers have begun addressing the tragedies they have caused, explained DeGrow.
“One of the best ways for this all to happen is for the heritage sector to acknowledge their local pieces of this larger mosaic, and to create better means of communicating the histories, both positive and negative, of all peoples,” he said.
In Canada that change includes the work around truth and reconciliation.
“Speaking of Canada, the most prominent means of decolonizing in the country is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” said DeGrow. “This commission was launched in 2007 after Canada saw its largest-ever class-action lawsuit settlement, which centred around the nation’s often-forgotten and overlooked history of residential schools.
“This commission, and its subsequent ninety-four calls to action, has led to a rapid increase in recognition of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and their past and present plights.
“Though some processes are proving to be painfully slow, and in many cases the lives of Indigenous Peoples have yet to noticeably improve, the fact the TRC has recognized these challenges has indeed led to a more prosperous future for the Peoples of Canada.”
Again, with Canadian museums, historians, and municipalities collaborating with Indigenous Peoples to detail histories, a better hope of preserving the Indigenous way of life is possible, he added.
The area of socio-cultural changes also includes that the heritage sector is facing is the widespread diversification of cultures across the world, and what DeGrow noted is becoming a hot-button issue; the role of different genders in society.
And, of course economic changes play a role.
“The heritage sector must always keep up with the economic flow of its local region, in order for it to remain in prominence,” said DeGrow.
The impact of economic change can’t be discounted.
“The economic changes the heritage sector has experienced, and is still experiencing now, are a constant ride of boom and bust, a ride that will forever continue, no matter what is done,” said DeGrow.
“What can be done, though, is to anticipate and plan ahead for these changes, ensuring that the heritage sector does not fall behind when booms come nor fall victim to busts when they too follow suit.”
As the sector tries to “reset” its methods and models to align with the latest technology and the latest economic situation of its local area, heritage preserves itself in a way, letting itself stay competitive, he said.
