Stolen totem pole formally welcomed home to Nisga'a territory after nearly a century in Scottish museum
CBC News | Posted: September 29, 2023 1:41 AM | Last Updated: September 30, 2023
Pole taken without First Nation's consent in 1929 welcomed back with rematriation ceremony and feast
The Nisga'a Nation has finally brought its family history home, almost 100 years after a totem pole was stolen and sold to Scotland's National Museum.
The return of the pole was celebrated with a ceremony, attended by about 400 people, at the Nisga'a Museum in Laxgalts'ap, a village northwest of Terrace, B.C.
The pole remained in a crate in a Nisga'a hall, while children laid cedar boughs at its feet. The totem will be erected later in the week for display.
The pole was taken without the nation's consent in 1929 by colonial ethnographer Marius Barbeau, who then sold it to the Scottish museum.
WATCH | The totem pole arrives home:
In a statement, the Nisga'a said the pole "represents a chapter of the Peoples' cultural sovereignty and is a living constitutional and visual record."
It said Barbeau took the pole without the consent of the House of Ni'isjoohl — one of around 50 houses within the Nisga'a Nation — during a period when the Nisga'a Peoples were away from their villages for the annual hunting, fishing and harvesting season.
Many Nisga'a wore their bright red and black regalia at Friday's ceremony, while others wore wolf pelts or dressed as bears to represent their house names.
Premier David Eby thanked the Nisga'a people for showing leadership and the way forward for other First Nations.
"It's an inspirational day for all of us,'' he said. "It's a true sign of reconciliation in action."
The negotiations over the rematriation of the pole have taken a year. A Nisga'a delegation travelled to Scotland to ask for its return in August 2022, and the museum's board of trustees approved the plan later that year.
The nation uses the term "rematriation" instead of "repatriation" because it is a matrilineal community — that is, based on kinship with the mother's line.
A lost relative
The Ni'isjoohl memorial pole is a house pole that was carved and erected in the 1860s. It tells the story of Ts'wawit, a warrior who was next in line to be chief before he was killed in a conflict with a neighbouring nation.
Noxs Ts'aawit (Dr. Amy Parent), a member of the nation and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous education and governance, first discovered the memorial pole was in Scotland four years ago. She said her ancestral grandmother had the pole carved and erected in honour of Ts'wawit.
"We know that a carver breathes life into a pole when it is first carved. And so after that point we consider that totem pole to have a living spirit in it and to be a relative. And so it's like bringing a family member home after being gone for almost 100 years," she said.
"It's very significant to have this reunion, and to have this return."
Parent was among the delegation that travelled to Scotland to view the memorial pole, and described the emotional moments when she saw it for the first time.
"We could actually feel the pole let out a sigh of relief when we walked into the room and that was the first time I've ever felt a totem pole and could just feel like the room was moving with us."
A long road home
The pole began its journey in late August, travelling in the belly of a Canadian military aircraft.
While the Scottish museum initially planned to transport the 11-metre pole by ship, Parent said she felt moving it by plane would reduce the risk of damage.
Eva Clayton, elected president of the Nisga'a Nation, said the day will be one of mixed emotions, and will be an educational opportunity for the Nisga'a youth.
"It's one of joy, one of happiness, and one that brings tears to one's eyes because we have one of the long lost artifacts that has made its way home," she said.
"It's going to be a very educational experience for the younger generation, and we look forward to carrying on our culture. With the physical presence of the pole, it will be giving our stories credibility."
In 2007, the United Kingdom voted to support the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous People, part of which calls for the return of ceremonial objects.
In 2010, the Royal B.C. Museum and the Canadian Museum of History returned 276 historical and spiritual artifacts to the Nisga'a under the terms of the treaty signed in 2000 by the Nisga'a and the governments of Canada and B.C.
The Nisga'a said, to date, only one totem pole has been successfully returned from a European museum. The Haisla G'psgolox pole was returned from Sweden in 2006.