
The Vatican has held a vast collection of Indigenous artifacts for over a century, sparking controversy and debate over their ownership. The collection includes thousands of colonial-era objects, such as a rare Inuvialuit sealskin kayak, embroidered Cree leather gloves, a 200-year-old wampum belt, and a beluga tooth necklace. These artifacts were acquired during a time of cultural destruction, and many argue they should be returned to their rightful owners.
Pope Francis promised to return the artifacts to communities in Canada as part of a “penitential pilgrimage” for abuses against Indigenous people by the Church. However, despite his pledge, the artifacts remain in the Vatican’s museums and storage vaults. Indigenous leaders are now urging Pope Leo to follow through on Francis’s promise.
“We were forbidden as a nation to use our cultural regalia, our cultural tools, or our medicines, and if we were caught, we were reported to the Indian agent,” said Laurie McDonald, an elder from Enoch Cree Nation, recalling the forced assimilation policies of the past. McDonald witnessed Pope Francis’s historic apology on behalf of the Catholic Church in 2022, where Francis said, “I am deeply sorry… I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous Peoples.”
The Acquisition of Artifacts
The artifacts were collected during the era of Pope Pius XI, who promoted the work of missionaries and requested they gather evidence of the Church’s reach. “He said: Send in everything related to Indigenous life. Send in sacred belongings. Send in language materials. Send in Indigenous people, if you can manage it,” said Gloria Bell, an assistant professor of art history at McGill University. Bell described the acquisition period as a “really assimilative period in Canadian colonial history.”
Repatriation Efforts
Indigenous leaders have been advocating for the return of the artifacts, citing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Article 12 of UNDRIP states that Indigenous peoples have the right to use and control their ceremonial objects, and states shall endeavor to return them. Pope Francis has expressed support for restitution, invoking the seventh commandment: “Thou shall not steal”.
A Path Forward
While the Vatican has not returned any Indigenous-made items to Canada in recent years, except for a brief loan of a 200-year-old wampum belt, Indigenous leaders remain hopeful. “What a beautiful homecoming it would be to welcome these gifts that were made by our grandmothers and our grandfathers,” said Victoria Pruden, President of the Métis National Council. Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, emphasized the importance of repatriation: “You want to right the wrongs of the past. That’s what we want to do for our survivors, for their families, for the history of what happened here and to make sure that the story never dies out.”