Indigenous artifacts taken from Canada by Catholic missionaries to Rome a century ago were unveiled at a Canadian museum on Tuesday, repatriations that have sparked calls for the Vatican to return other treasured items.
The return of the 62 artifacts, including a rare kayak, is “historic”, said Governor General Mary Simon, the first Indigenous person to serve as the British monarchy’s representative in Canada.
“For too long, these artifacts were separated from the Indigenous communities to whom they belong,” she said in a statement.
Cody Groat, an expert in Indigenous cultural heritage at Western University in Ontario, told AFP there are “conflicting interpretations” of the circumstances that saw the items brought to Rome in the 1920s.
“The Vatican is very much using language that these were gifted to the Catholic Church and they are now being gifted back,” he said.
But given the clear “power imbalance” at the time between Indigenous people and Catholic missionaries, the notion of a voluntary transfer can be “contested,” he added.
The push to have the items returned gathered pace about a decade ago, when Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued a report that focused attention on the Catholic Church’s role in the abuses perpetrated against Indigenous people.
During a “penitential pilgrimage” across Canada in 2022, Pope Francis offered a historic apology to Indigenous communities for the decades-long abuse of children in Catholic-run schools, which he said was “genocide”.
During that trip, the communities asked the Vatican to return the culturally valuable objects.
Inuit leader Natan Obed told AFP at the Canadian Museum of History on Tuesday that when he spoke to Francis during that trip, the late pontiff stressed the church’s unwavering opposition to theft.
“If items were taken forcibly or without consent, (theft) is what it amounts to,” Obed said.
Obed said discussions on repatriation initially focused on the traditional Inuvialuit kayak and involved direct talks between then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and the late pope.
“That somehow morphed into a larger conversation that led to 61 other items being identified by the Catholic Church to be repatriated,” he said.
– ‘Starting point’ –
Canada’s governor general credited Pope Leo XIV with making good on the returns, but voiced hope “this repatriation inspires further returns as we progress on this journey of reconciliation.”
Groat agreed these items should mark “a starting point” but stressed identifying additional items for return is complicated by the “secretive” nature of the Vatican’s holdings.
The items displayed on Tuesday “are very tightly associated with this 1925 museum exhibition held by the Vatican to celebrate its successes in regards to missionary endeavors,” he said.
“But we know that the Catholic Church has had an active role in what’s now Canada since the 1600s,” he said.
Asked if it was possible to estimate the number of Indigenous items potentially held in the Vatican, Groat said, “I wouldn’t even have a starting point.”
