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Human rights stories are all around us. We explore contemporary and historic human rights stories, from Canada and around the world.

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Bringing the potlatch home

By Matthew McRae

A black and white image of an elderly woman with white hair holding a mask that is shaped and painted to represent a bird’s head. It features a long beak with an open mouth and feathers attached to the top of the head. The woman is looking directly at the mask she is holding.

Making Mandela: Struggle for Freedom

By Matthew McRae

A man and a woman sit in chairs facing each other. There is a microphone on a stand positioned between them. There are also large lights on both sides of the woman’s chair, which are pointed towards the man.

What would you risk to share evidence of injustice?

" "

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A person holds a large piece of paper covered with text and a large title reading "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

One woman’s resistance

A head-and-shoulder portrait of Viola Desmond framed by a vertical purple rectangle. Viola is wearing a white top.

Powered by love: Grandmothers fighting HIV/AIDS

By Matthew McRae

A head-and-shoulders portrait of Gogo Gladys Tyophol. She is wearing glasses and a blue patterned kerchief wrapped around her head. Her shirt says GAPA and a red AIDS ribbon is attached to her sweater.

Planting a seed: Creating a community garden at the Museum

By Matthew McRae

Seven men and women work in a garden on a sunny day. The garden is circular and has very few plants in it. Around the garden are tall grass, trees, a walking path and a sidewalk. In the background, part of the Museum’s stone structure can be seen.

“A cauldron of hell”: The story of Canada’s Hong Kong veterans

By Matthew McRae

Three older men in Canadian Legion uniforms sit beside each other. They are all wearing Remembrance Day poppies on their uniforms.

Truth and reconciliation: What’s next?

By Karine Duhamel

A closeup of a carved wooden box, showing the carved face of a person with a painted red hand over their mouth.

Lighting the flame

By Rhea Yates

A man carrying a torch stands on a ladder to light a flame within a copper cauldron.

Exploring women’s rights and gender equality

By Chloe Rew

" "

Four freedoms: The power of objects

By Jeremy Maron

A book on display. The cover reads: The Pocket Poets Series. Howl and Other Poems. Allen Ginsberg. Introduction by William Carlos Williams. Number Four.

The Chinese head tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act

By Matthew McRae

Four men sitting on a couch looking at the Camera.

Japanese Canadian internment and the struggle for redress

By Matthew McRae

A black and white image of a woman and two children standing behind a pile of luggage and blankets and looking at the camera.

The story of the Komagata Maru

By Matthew McRae

A young woman sits on a ledge in a large circular hall. She is smiling at the camera and wearing jeans, a dark blouse and a red jacket

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

By Armando Perla

A close up of the Canadian Charte of Rights and Freedoms

The story of Africville

By Matthew McRae

A group of wooden houses next to a large body of water with red flowers in the foreground.

Approaching the human rights stories of Indigenous peoples

By Karine Duhamel

A closeup of a carved wooden box, showing the carved face of a person against a white background.

The nuts and bolts of reconciliation

By Karine Duhamel

A closeup of a carved wooden box, showing a painted image of a red hand over a carved mouth.

Why reconciliation? Why now?

By Karine Duhamel

Visages sculptés en bois.

Bringing the potlatch home

By Matthew McRae

A black and white image of an elderly woman with white hair holding a mask that is shaped and painted to represent a bird’s head. It features a long beak with an open mouth and feathers attached to the top of the head. The woman is looking directly at the mask she is holding.

Making Mandela: Struggle for Freedom

By Matthew McRae

A man and a woman sit in chairs facing each other. There is a microphone on a stand positioned between them. There are also large lights on both sides of the woman’s chair, which are pointed towards the man.

What would you risk to share evidence of injustice?

What does it mean to stand up for human rights? Read the story of a medic who risked his own safety to document the evidence of atrocity.

" "

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

This world‐famous declaration is celebrated each year on International Human Rights Day.

A person holds a large piece of paper covered with text and a large title reading "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

One woman’s resistance

Viola Desmond helped inspire Canada’s civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat in a movie theatre. Now, she is on the $10 bill.

A head-and-shoulder portrait of Viola Desmond framed by a vertical purple rectangle. Viola is wearing a white top.

Powered by love: Grandmothers fighting HIV/AIDS

By Matthew McRae

It took Gogo Gladys Tyophol many years to come to terms with the death of her only son.

A head-and-shoulders portrait of Gogo Gladys Tyophol. She is wearing glasses and a blue patterned kerchief wrapped around her head. Her shirt says GAPA and a red AIDS ribbon is attached to her sweater.

Planting a seed: Creating a community garden at the Museum

By Matthew McRae

My partner and I have a small garden just outside the front door of our home. I will admit that it’s not much to look at.

Seven men and women work in a garden on a sunny day. The garden is circular and has very few plants in it. Around the garden are tall grass, trees, a walking path and a sidewalk. In the background, part of the Museum’s stone structure can be seen.

“A cauldron of hell”: The story of Canada’s Hong Kong veterans

By Matthew McRae

On December 8, 1941, the Japanese army launched an attack on the then‐British colony of Hong Kong, located in Southern China.

Three older men in Canadian Legion uniforms sit beside each other. They are all wearing Remembrance Day poppies on their uniforms.

Truth and reconciliation: What’s next?

By Karine Duhamel

This article series has focused on the way we present Indigenous content within the Museum and how we are approaching reconciliation.

A closeup of a carved wooden box, showing the carved face of a person with a painted red hand over their mouth.

Lighting the flame

By Rhea Yates

Fifty years ago, 10 young Indigenous athletes ran an 800‐kilometre relay from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, carrying the torch that would open the 1967 Pan American Games.

A man carrying a torch stands on a ladder to light a flame within a copper cauldron.

Exploring women’s rights and gender equality

By Chloe Rew

If I were alive in Canada before 1929, I would not have been considered a person. “Persons” under the British North America Act referred only to men.

" "

Four freedoms: The power of objects

By Jeremy Maron

In his January 1941 State of the Union address, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated four fundamental freedoms that everyone in the world ought to be able to enjoy – freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom from fear and freedom from want.

A book on display. The cover reads: The Pocket Poets Series. Howl and Other Poems. Allen Ginsberg. Introduction by William Carlos Williams. Number Four.

The Chinese head tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act

By Matthew McRae

When he was a little boy growing up in Vancouver, Dr. Henry Yu didn’t understand why his grandfather frequently took him on long walks to visit Chinatown.

Four men sitting on a couch looking at the Camera.

Japanese Canadian internment and the struggle for redress

By Matthew McRae

Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Lena Hayakawa lived what she describes as a very idyllic life.

A black and white image of a woman and two children standing behind a pile of luggage and blankets and looking at the camera.

The story of the Komagata Maru

By Matthew McRae

When Nimrat Randhawa and her family immigrated to Canada in the summer of 2003, they arrived completely in the dark – literally.

A young woman sits on a ledge in a large circular hall. She is smiling at the camera and wearing jeans, a dark blouse and a red jacket

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

By Armando Perla

The cornerstone of human rights protection in Canada is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter forms part of Canada’s Constitution and came into being on April 17, 1982.

A close up of the Canadian Charte of Rights and Freedoms

The story of Africville

By Matthew McRae

If you’ve never heard of Africville, you’re not alone. This small Black community was demolished by the City of Halifax in the 1960s. Its residents have been fighting for justice ever since.

A group of wooden houses next to a large body of water with red flowers in the foreground.

Approaching the human rights stories of Indigenous peoples

By Karine Duhamel

This article focuses on the creation and development of exhibition content exploring the human rights stories of Indigenous people in this country. To tell these stories, the Museum engaged with communities and individuals in a process of truth‐telling.

A closeup of a carved wooden box, showing the carved face of a person against a white background.

The nuts and bolts of reconciliation

By Karine Duhamel

As a child, I often visited museums. I was lucky to be able to travel with my family, and to visit interpretive spaces across the country.

A closeup of a carved wooden box, showing a painted image of a red hand over a carved mouth.

Why reconciliation? Why now?

By Karine Duhamel

Since the publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s final report in 2015, more and more Canadians seem focused on the idea of reconciliation.

Visages sculptés en bois.