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More than five dozen items belonging to First Nations, Inuit and The Metis are one step closer to returning home.
After three years of negotiations, 62 cultural objects that had previously been in the Vatican museums and repositories for a century have ended up in the Vatican Museum. Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport shortly before noon. on Saturday.
“This is a positive step towards reconciliation,” said Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN).
“It hasn't been easy, but I'm glad they're coming home. Our residential school survivors, our elders, our leaders have been calling for this for a long, long time.”
Most of the items are still unknown, but 14 items are of Inuit origin, including an Inuvialuit kayak used for beluga whale hunting, one Métis and the rest are owned by First Nations across Canada.
Last week, the FSA sent a delegation of elders, knowledge keepers and residential school survivors to Rome to conduct ceremonies while the items are packed for transport. They left the Vatican City by truck earlier this week for Frankfurt, Germany, and arrived in Montreal on Saturday morning.
The items were accompanied on the flight by a delegation from the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and four Indigenous youth.
Their arrival was welcomed by representatives of the FSA, the Inuit Tapirit Kanatami (ITK) and the Métis National Council (MNC). Kanahsohon Elder Kevin Deere of Kahnawake and federal MP Stephen Guilbeault, representing Montreal trip Laurier – Sainte-Marie, were also present.
“We are very proud to be part of the historic repatriation,” said Nathan Obed, ITK President.
He said this kayak, for example, is one of only five known to exist.
“The idea that we can study this kayak, evaluate it, understand it better, will also lead to a resumption of kayak production,” Obed said.
Collected by missionaries
The 62 objects were among thousands of items originally sent to Rome between 1923 and 1925 for a world exhibition organized by Pope Pius XI, who invited Catholic missionaries to send materials from indigenous peoples around the world.
The items were repatriated through a church-to-church transfer through the Vatican to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in November. Obed said repatriation talks began in 2022 and initially focused on returning the kayak, but later evolved into a partnership between ITK, AFN and the Métis National Council.
The boxed items will be trucked to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, where they will be examined.
“As temporary caretakers, we accept responsibility for preserving these items with the utmost care, ensuring they remain accessible and respected as the community prepares to welcome them home,” Caroline Dromaget, the museum's president and CEO, said in a statement.
Manitoba Métis Federation expelled
Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), which left MNC in 2021was not included in the repatriation process. President David Chartrand expressed the hope that the only Métis the returned item will be stored at the Métis National Heritage Centre, which slated to open in 2027 in Winnipeg.
Chartrand said he views the repatriation as “goodwill” on behalf of the church, but noted that the items being returned to Canada today represent only a small portion of the Indigenous items held at the Vatican.
“They have up to 10,000 items under surveillance in museums, storage facilities and various places,” he said. “It's a little raindrop in a bucket.”
Chartrand said MMF will write to the Vatican to find out which items belong to Red River. Métis and also the circumstances of how they got there.
“You will not take the gift back unless your reputation is damaged or mistrust is broken,” he said.
“I will not disrespect the previous leadership back in the 1800s or early 1900s if they made an honorary gift because we are very closely associated with the Catholic Church.”
More work to be done
Earlier this week, chiefs and delegates to a special assembly of FNA Chiefs in Ottawa passed a resolution to create an Indigenous-led task force to develop a national repatriation strategy.
“There is still a lot of work to be done,” Woodhouse Nepinak said.
“We need to bring people together to make sure that every time artifacts are returned, we consistently go to their rightful owners.”
