Reconciliation and heritage policy making in a Canadian settler-colonial city

The emerging field of urban Indigenous heritage seeks to correct the omission of Indigenous cultural antecedents in urban historical narratives. This paper examines the 2023 City of Lethbridge/Sikóóhkotok Heritage Management Plan – the first in the city’s history to incorporate Indigenous heritage. While heritage management plans commonly focus on processes and protocols for designating and protecting heritage, this plan prioritized a heritage management framework centered on ongoing engagement with Indigenous Nations. Through examining the process and layers of institutional transformation that enabled the plan’s development, we reveal new openings for reconciliation and Indigenous heritage sovereignty in urban context alongside persistent constraints in settler-colonial heritage governance. This case illustrates progress in the Canadian heritage field since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action and since the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) received Royal Assent in Canada. It also presents policy recommendations for advancing urban Indigenous heritage frameworks.