Canadian Indigenous Cultural Objects Returned from Vatican After a Century

After three years of negotiations, 62 First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultural objects that had been stored in Vatican museums and warehouses for nearly a century finally landed at Montreal International Airport on Saturday.

A delegation of Canadian elders, leaders and politicians welcomed the objects on the tarmac, describing it as a “positive step towards reconciliation and rebuilding relations.”

What are the objects?

Some of the items have not yet been identified, but the following are known:

14 Inuit objects

One object from the Métis people

The rest belong to various First Nations

One of the most important objects returned is the Inuvaloit kayak, a historic tool used to hunt beluga whales, and only five of its kind are known in the world.

How did these objects end up in the Vatican?

The 62 objects are part of thousands of items sent by priests and missionaries to Rome between 1923 and 1925 for Pope Pius XI’s World’s Fair.

How were they returned?

The items were returned to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops via a “church-to-church” transfer from the Vatican to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Negotiations began in 2022 and initially focused on the return of the kayak, but later expanded to include a joint effort between the ITK, AFN and the Métis National Council.

Ceremony and route

Before the objects were packed and shipped, a group of elders, cultural custodians and survivors of the boarding schools traveled to Rome and held a special ceremony. The objects were then trucked to Frankfurt and from there flown to Montreal.

What’s next?

The collection is now being trucked to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau for examination and conservation. Museum officials have said they are only “temporary custodians” and that the objects will be returned to the indigenous communities after preparation.

Absence of the Manitoba Métis Federation

The Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), which split from the Métis National Council in 2021, was not involved in the repatriation process. Its president, David Chartres, hopes the Métis object will be housed at the Métis National Heritage Centre, which is scheduled to open in 2027.

He says the return of the 62 objects is “just a drop in the bucket” as it is estimated that more than 10,000 other indigenous objects around the world are held in the Vatican.

Moving towards a national repatriation strategy

At the recent AFN meeting in Ottawa, tribal chiefs passed a resolution to create a “special task force” to develop a national strategy for repatriation of cultural heritage.

“The work is not done yet.” — Cindy Woodhouse Nepinack, President of AFN