Near the old perfume counters on the ground floor of the Hudson’s Bay department store in Winnipeg, Canada, a trade is taking place that drips with symbolism.
The 39th “governor” of Hudson’s Bay – the oldest company in North America and one of the most beautiful in Canada – accepted from a Native leader two beaver pelts and two elk hides in exchange for the building, the company’s former Canadian flagship.
The ceremony took place a year ago when Hudson’s Bay, the company that had previously chartered to locate the colony that became part of Canada, gave away its shuttered, 600,000-square-foot, six-story downtown building. to a group of First Nations. But what appeared to be a restoration work became the subject of intense debate as the value of the building and the cost of its renovation became clearer: Is it a real gift or an empty one?
The gift of the building draws attention to the evolving relationship between Hudson’s Bay and Canada’s Indigenous people, as well as their central role in the history of a country built on the fur trade between them and the company.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and others who attended the ceremony hailed the building’s move as an act of reconciliation between Canada and the oppressed Indigenous population. But as the positive effects of the ceremony fade, the details of the deal raise questions about economic fairness as Canada works to achieve reconciliation with Indigenous communities.
The indigenous owners intend to turn the sprawling structure into a multiuse building for their community that will include restaurants, a rooftop garden and a healing center that incorporates Western and traditional medicine.
In 2019, commercial real estate appraisers said the building was worth nothing — or even less, since bringing it up to code alone would cost up to 111 million Canadian dollars ($8 million) .
The company declined to comment for this article and provided a general statement that did not discuss the details of the handover.
For generations – at least for non-Indigenous customers – a visit downtown would not be complete without a stop inside the Bay’s ornate, neo-Classical monolith spread over the choicest blocks of the shopping district. .
That’s why moving is a powerful act, especially for people like Darian McKinney, 27, one of two Native architects tasked with transforming the building. Like many other Native Canadians, Mr. McKinney never went to the store, even though he grew up in Winnipeg.
Besides not being able to afford to shop at Bay’s, he also knew that Natives often felt unwelcome; from his grandparents, he learned of a not-so-distant past when they could not leave the reserves to visit towns without a pass from a so-called Indian agent.
“If you can afford to shop in the Bay,” he said, “you feel like you don’t deserve it.”
In some parts of Canada, the pass system remained in effect until the 1940s.
“The environment in downtown Winnipeg is rooted in the exclusion of Indigenous people,” said Reanna Merasty, 27, another Indigenous architect working on the building’s renovation.
The building’s new owners, the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which represents Manitoba’s 34 First Nations, envision making it “a space for economic and social restoration” for their community in Winnipeg, which is home to the largest population of Indigenous people in Canada.
The organization is still struggling to raise 20 million of the 130 million Canadian dollars it says it needs to renovate the building.
Currently, the mammoth structure sits mostly empty, with shirtless mannequins, a poster of Justin Bieber in Calvin Kleins, and dusty signage – “Closed Store. Everyone must go” — recalling the last department store days.
In the 20th century, Hudson’s Bay transformed itself from a fur trader to a modern retailer, opening department stores in the downtown shopping area. But almost a century after its opening, the Winnipeg store by the Bay closed in 2020, the victim of the pandemic and online shopping.
As of 2020, only two of the building’s six floors are still in use, and its main restaurant, Paddlewheel, closed years ago. Hudson’s Bay, which has been trying to get rid of the building for years, tried to give it to the University of Winnipeg, but the university refused because of the cost of repairs and maintenance.
Owned since 2008 by Richard Baker, the American real estate magnate, Hudson’s Bay is stuck in a worthless structure that – designated as a heritage building in 2019, against the wishes of the company – it cannot be demolished , but where must continue to pay. taxes.
But then the Southern Chiefs’ Organization approached Hudson’s Bay with an offer to take the building and make it a center of Native life, said the head of the organization, Grand Chief Jerry Daniels.
“It’s appropriate, because the Native people built Hudson’s Bay,” said Mr. Daniels. “And that’s the story that needs to be told, that we built this country.”
But others are more critical of the deal and the motivation behind it.
“The fact that the Hudson’s Bay company exploited our community, took all the resources and money they could from our community, and then left this serious problem in the center of the city, just left it – this is colonialism personified,” said Niigaan Sinclair , an assistant professor of indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba who is a member of the Anishinaabe First Nations.
Inseparable from the European colonization of Canada, Hudson’s Bay was established in 1670 to exploit the fur trade in Rupert’s Land, a territory equal to about one-third of today’s Canada.
King Charles II claimed the territory as belonging to England and gave it to his cousin Prince Rupert, who became the first head, or “governor” of the company. Hudson’s Bay enjoyed exclusive rights to exploit and colonize the territory until the land was sold in 1870 to the newly created nation of Canada.
With trading posts in remote parts of Canada, Hudson’s Bay relied on Native trappers for the beaver pelts and other natural resources that made up the company’s business, but many Natives as if their ancestors were not adequately compensated.
Without the Lumads, the company would not have thrived, relying as much on the Lumads’ knowledge of their heritage land and existing relationships with the various Lumad communities.
“The fortunes of the Hudson’s Bay Company were rooted in Native lands, Native labor, Native knowledge and Native management,” said Adele Perry, a professor and expert on colonialism at the University of Manitoba.
In recent years, Ms. Perry said, Canada was forced to “recognize that the core of Canada as an entity is a colonial project.”
Mr. Daniels said his organization has secured 110 million Canadian dollars from government sources, including loans, grants and tax credits, and is seeking funding for the rest. He also said he hopes Hudson’s Bay will help.
The 39th “governor” of Hudson’s Bay, Mr. Baker, declined an interview request for this article, instead emailing a statement. “The Southern Chiefs’ Organization fully owns and operates the building, with management and control over all aspects of its future development,” he said, adding that the company supported the Native organization’s vision for the building.
But there are deep doubts in Winnipeg that its transformation can be completed without greater financial support. Next to the University of Winnipeg, the provincial utility, Manitoba Hydro, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery also rejected, because it was too expensive, the acquisition of the building.
Hudson’s Bay jumped at the chance to get rid of a building that was “worthless in the first place,” and the government didn’t support the expensive conversion of the building “with enough money to do it right,” Wins Bridgman said. , a Winnipeg -based architect who works with Indigenous groups, including the Southern Chiefs.
“Then we wonder why it doesn’t work,” he said.
“Be careful what people give you and why they give it to you.”
