Membership Criteria

Who can apply for IAC membership?

While any Indigenous person can apply, priority groups are Indigenous women and on reserve Indigenous artists. Limited funding will often narrow our membership acceptance to priority groups. 

Membership acceptance relies upon your dedication to preserving the integrity of Indigenous arts and cultures, a clear Indigenous identity and women who above all find value in teaching the next generations. Please review the following document for guidance. The funding we are granted and the volunteer time we invest is specifically for Indigenous peoples and both time and dollars must be spent on the terms it was granted.

Collection of Identification

Any member sending ID or other identifying documents to IAC for verification: We guard your privacy. Your ID is viewed and immediately and permanently deleted from all IAC records (on or off line). We do not keep any identifying information other than what the member gives us permission to retain and post publicly on their profile page (at time of registration) which includes: name, address, email and phone number. IAC does not publish address and phone number unless a member specifically asks us to. We are extremely careful about any risks related to member privacy and you submit this information to us voluntarily. If you have any requests or questions, just reach out to us.

Existing will not see any changes to their membership other than the addition of an identity verification. If you are a member participating in our programming and receiving emails, this will not change. New members are always welcome! IAC is inclusive and we're here to help everyone as long as we have funding to do so.

Membership acceptance to the Indigenous Arts Collective (IndigenARTSY) is based strictly on:

  1. Contribution to the protection and development of endangered Indigenous art forms,
  2. Maintaining the integrity and history of traditional Indigenous art forms,
  3. Contributing to the transmission of Indigenous knowledge within our families and sovereign nations
  4. The validity of the identification and connections to people and land bases.

To be accepted into IAC membership, Indigenous artists must demonstrate the following:

  1. A firm understanding of the origins of the Indigenous art forms that they choose to create,
  2. A story of learning their art form from Indigenous people via family and/or community,
  3. Incentive to teach the next generations of Indigenous artists,
  4. Promotion each other equally and fairly - demonstrating respect and gratitude for others.

IAC Membership and Identification

If you can answer the following questions with an honest ‘yes’, you are very likely to be accepted for IAC membership:

  • Do you have ID that fits into one of our priority groups?
  • Are you Indigenous?
  • Can you confirm that you are related by blood to living Indigenous people?
  • Are you connected to an Indigenous reserve/community/nation by blood?
  • Did you learn your art form from family or community?
  • Do you think it’s important to pass Indigenous knowledge to the next generations of Indigenous artists?
  • The Indigenous Arts Collective retains the right to reject membership and vendor application based on the evidence that an artist submits regarding identity as well as the history and integrity of their art form(s). This non profit organization is for Indigenous artists only. We commit our resources to Indigenous artists only, and are very proud of our large artist membership and the services we provide.

Identification

The IAC prides itself in offering membership to diverse Indigenous nations. We put forth every effort to represent Indigenous nations equally and structure our membership so that there are an equal number of individuals representing as many nations as possible.

  • People who have gained Indigenous status/ identity because they married an Indigenous person do not qualify for membership.
  • Pan-Indigenous organizations and unassociated Métis organizations are not in our priority group and at the present funding level, may not be eligible to access platforms and programs.
  • Non-Indigenous people whose art forms and practices have been learned from, or are similar to Indigenous art forms do not qualify for membership.

We appreciate your respect of our Indigenous cultures and ask that you allow us to maintain our strong and important cultural identities.

*The funding we are granted is specifically for Indigenous peoples and must be spent on the terms it was granted.

We have seen and acknowledge that many people claim Indigenous identity and/or hold it in high regard but these identities are not up for debate and membership applications will be rejected.

While we cannot define who identifies as Indigenous, we ask that artists belong to, or have a connection to a certain Indigenous territory or community. In some cases, we will reach out to Indigenous communities to confirm these connections. You must be within our priority groups to access programs and services.

*Indigenous identity fraud will not be tolerated. Each vendor has claimed Indigenous identity. While we do our best to determine eligibility, we reserve the right to reject/recind membership applications based on evidence provided to us by the artist or others. Questionable identities will be reviewed by the board of directors and a decision made by board vote. Vendors not in compliance may find their IndigenARTSY stores closed and IACC membership suspended temporarily or indefinitely.

*In establishing this non profit organization in 2011, identity fraud was not as prevalent as it is now in 2023. For that reason, we will have marked some membership artists as 'unverified'. This means that at the time of registration, it was not required (or identity was not scrutinized as it would be in 2023) to submit identification (and member is now unresponsive to requests). We value all members and we have made every attempt to contact all members via email and private message. Unresponsive members will still have a profile page but their ID mark will be 'unverified' until they reach out.

What identification is required?

You will be required to upload a photo of a recognized identification card (Status Card, Band Card/Band Documents, Inuit ID/Land Claim organizations or Métis membership). 

We understand that not all First Nations peoples desire to be registered and we acknowledge that the Indian Act is outdated. If you do not have status/band identification, you may explain why and describe yourself in a way that demonstrates that you are Indigenous and connected to an Indigenous community and related to living Indigenous people. This may require you to include specific names of community and relatives.

We also understand that not all people who self identify as Indigenous fit into the identities/communities that we have defined above. In compliance with our mandate to prioritize Indigenous women and on reserve artists, we choose to dedicate the majority of our resources to people who identify as part of those specific communities. Should our resources grow in the future, we will review and possibly expand our acceptance requirements.

Your identification will be deleted from our possession. We do not keep copies of anyone’s identification once an application membership has been approved. Your postal address, email address and phone number will remain on file and you consent to this retention and understand any risks when you apply for IAC membership.

How to apply for Certificate of Indian Status, click here:

https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1100100032421/1572461539061