SASKATOON – The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is requesting and expecting the return of sacred and ceremonial artifacts that were taken from First Nation communities during the residential school era.
The FSIN has formally asked the Vatican to repatriate items, including sacred pipes, medicine bundles, ceremonial regalia and other cultural objects currently housed in Vatican museums and archives. Many of these artifacts were confiscated illegally.
"These sacred items are not merely museum pieces, they are connections to our ancestors, our ceremonies, and our identities as First Nations peoples,” said FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron. "Reconciliation is a word that is tossed around, but we know that meaningful action is the core of what it actually means, returning these artifacts would demonstrate a genuine commitment to healing the immense trauma caused by the residential school system and honours the survivors who have waited for generations for justice.”
The Vatican’s collection of Indigenous artifacts from around the world includes items from First Nations in what is now Canada.
Chief Cameron added, “The church has acknowledged the harm of residential schools, but those words must be followed by actions. Returning what was taken from us is not charity, it is duty. Pope Leo XIV has a historic opportunity to correct this wrong and help write a new chapter in the relationship between the church and First Nations peoples.”
