Helping Indigenous Artists Protect Their Work

Copyright infringement of Indigenous designs is rampant. Their artwork is one of the last things that Indigenous Peoples have left. A new Canadian Indigenous art registry aims to help artists who have struggled with questions of ownership over their designs. The registry is a joint effort between Tony Belcourt, former president of the Métis Nation of Ontario, and Mark Holmes, director of G52 Municipal Services, the service provider for the register’s technology, in consultation with Indigenous artists.

Still in the early stages of creation, the registry is designed to give artists a place to document designs, control ownership and track works as they are sold and resold. Artists would be given a registry number for each piece of work, so when designs are stolen, they can take action and have a legal document to prove registration. The responsibility to ensure authenticity in part rests with consumers to buy products that identify Indigenous artists on the label.

One such artist collective has existed in Cape Dorset since it was established in 1959. The community-owned West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative Ltd. manages copyright for Indigenous artists in Nunavut, many of whom are without access to phones, bank accounts or Internet access and speak only Inuktitut. The co-operative has returned profit of more than $1-million a year for the past three years as equity back to its membership of 1,698, who each pay a one-time fee of $5 for a share. 

Creative Commons Photo by Indigenous artist David Neel, from the Kwakiutl first nation. Seen wearing a Ka'sala headress with a Grizzly Bear frontlet and canoe paddle with an Orca design, which are the crests of his family.

Hands of the Spirits

Among Iroquois medicine societies of present-day central and upstate New York, rattles are often described as hands of the spirit beings. The sounds emanating from the shaking of a rattle during a ceremony serve as a primary means of communicating with the spirit world. Rattles are ritually used to invoke the assistance of power animals and helping spirits. The shaman's rattle draws the spirit world and its inhabitants into the material world. The shaman thus embodies the helping spirits to perform shamanic tasks. Healing energy can be mentally transmitted through the rattle and out into the environment or into a patient's body. Prayer and intention can be broadcast to the spirit world. Moreover, sacred space can be created by describing a circle with the rattle while shaking it.

According to the Iroquois or "people of the longhouse," the gourd rattle is the sound of Creation. The Iroquoian creation stories tell of the first sound, a shimmering sound, which went out in all directions; this was the sound of "the Creator's thoughts." The seeds of the gourd rattle embody the voice of the Creator, since they are the source of newly created life. The seeds within the rattle scatter the illusions of the conscious mind, planting seeds of pure and clear mind.

The turtle rattle is central to Iroquois tradition, beliefs and ways of life. The Iroquois derive their own values from the characteristics of the turtle such as perseverance, longevity and steadfastness. It is said that when the turtle rattle is shaken, "the Earth stops to listen."(1) The turtle rattle is a symbol of the world on the turtle's back, Turtle Island. The Creator is said to have loved snapping turtle best. When Mother Earth hears the sound of the turtle rattle, all of creation awakens and moves to its shaking beat. The crack of a turtle rattle, which shakes the Earth, draws the attention of the spirits at the beginning of a ceremony or meeting. "To Shake the Earth" is a metaphor often used in Iroquoian communities to describe the purpose of the turtle rattle. From a shamanic perspective, caretaking the rattle and playing it properly during ritual fulfills the destiny of the human spirit -- to sustain the order of existence.

1. Visions of Sound: Musical Instruments of First Nations Communities in Northeastern America, By Beverley Diamond, 1994.