Mi'kmaw regalia repatriated after more than 100 years in Australia

A set of Mi'kmaw regalia that was donated to an Australian museum more than 100 years ago has officially come home.

The regalia, which includes a jacket, moccasins, a single legging, a pouch, a trade-silver brooch and a pipe, has been housed at Museum Victoria in Melbourne since the 1890s.

Heather Stevens, the manager of the Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre in Truro, N.S., has been working to repatriate the regalia since 2013.

Last month, after a decade of discussions with the museum, extensive government paperwork and pandemic delays, that finally happened.

Stevens, along with De-anne Sack, a Mi'kmaw pipe carrier, travelled to Melbourne to retrieve the items.

"Bringing it back home, it wasn't just for me. It was for our whole entire Mi'kmaw nation," Stevens told CBC Radio's Mainstreet Halifax on Wednesday.

"It's something that I fought very hard to bring back home, and I'm very proud to have it here for our people."

The regalia includes a beautifully embroidered jacket that is decorated with beadwork along its hem, lapels, shoulders, cuffs and back. The moccasins and pouch have similar beadwork.

The pipe is made from wood and porcupine quills and features carved animals unique to the Mi'kmaq.

Stevens said the regalia is believed to have been made by a Mi'kmaw artisan named Mary Christina Morris, who lived somewhere between Millbrook and Shubenacadie during the 1840s. 

It had been commissioned by Samuel Huyghue, an Atlantic Canadian civil servant, writer and artist, who was worried about the future of Mi'kmaw culture and crafting, she said.

Huyghue left Nova Scotia with the regalia by the mid- to late 1800s and moved to England. He then traveled to Melbourne, Australia, where he died in 1891, and bequeathed the regalia to Museums Victoria. 

It has remained there since, until Stevens questioned why the Millbrook centre had a photo of the regalia on display, rather than the actual items. 

Thus began her efforts to repatriate the regalia. She was finally given the go-ahead last month.

An emotional reunion

Stevens and Sack returned to Nova Scotia with the regalia last Sunday, after an emotional reunion.

Stevens said museum staff walked them into a room where the regalia was in a crate, and allowed them to have 10-15 minutes alone with it.

"I could not believe it was real. I was there with that regalia. I couldn't see it because there was a cover over top of it, like a protective cover over top of it, but I didn't need to see it at that time because both De-anne and I felt a connection as soon as we walked through that door," she said.

Sack started singing and drumming, while Stevens draped her arms and head over the crate, giving thanks to the regalia.

When the crate was opened, Stevens said first saw the embroidered coat.

"I could not believe the craftsmanship. All of the things just overwhelmed me, you know, all of the feelings," she said.

"I was sad because it's been so long that it hasn't been back home with us, and I was happy. I was so over the moon because it's coming back home."

Work still to be done

Stevens said the regalia will be housed at the Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre, but it is not yet on display.

She said the centre is working with the Nova Scotia Museum to develop a 365-degree display case that includes an oral history of the regalia's history, in both English and Mi'kmaw.

The regalia is expected to be unveiled to the public on June 21 — National Indigenous People's Day.

Stevens said some Mi'kmaq have had the opportunity to see the regalia, and it's been an emotional experience.

"This regalia needed to be back home. And you know, I did it for our people. .. They're so happy to have it back home in Mi'kma'ki and they're thankful."