Overview
- The collection includes belongings of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, with 14 items identified as Inuit, one as Métis and the rest linked to First Nations, including a rare Inuvialuit kayak described as one of only five known.
- The repatriation followed a church-to-church transfer from the Vatican to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in November after talks that began in 2022.
- The boxed objects are being transferred to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau for temporary custodial care, examination, cataloguing and identification.
- Indigenous delegations held ceremonies in Rome as the items were packed, and representatives escorted the shipment via Frankfurt to Montreal.
- The Assembly of First Nations has approved a task force to craft a national repatriation strategy, as the Manitoba Métis Federation notes it was not included and points to thousands more items believed to remain in Vatican holdings.