Sherbrooke Indigenous community president calls out Séminaire de Sherbrooke

Sherbrooke Indigenous community president calls out Séminaire de Sherbrooke

By Michael Boriero

Communauté Autochtone de Sherbrooke (CAS) President Michel Fontaine was disappointed and discouraged, after he discovered that the Séminaire de Sherbrooke, a private educational institution, recently sold Indigenous artifacts to finance major renovations.
What made the situation worse, though, is the school never reached out to Indigenous communities to gauge their interest in acquiring these artifacts, Fontaine said, adding that they had a chance to take steps towards repairing frayed relations.
“I think the Séminaire missed a great opportunity to reconcile with the Indigenous community. When you have objects that have been created by Indigenous peoples, I think out of respect you need to contact Indigenous communities to see if they are interested,” he said.
According to a La Tribune article published on Sunday, the school auctioned off 42 Indigenous-made objects, which have been owned by the institution since the mid-20th century. A representative from the Séminaire stated that the artifacts had little historical significance.
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