AFN unveils First Nations items returned from Vatican archives
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak took part Tuesday in the un-crating of First Nations cultural items recently returned from the Vatican Museums archive, calling the moment emotional and years in the making.
The event marks a major step in repatriation work led by First Nations, and it carries strong resonance for Indigenous communities across Northwestern Ontario, where the return of sacred belongings is closely tied to healing, ceremony and cultural continuity.
Returned items mark major step in repatriation and reconciliation
The AFN said First Nations leaders and Elders have long pushed for the return of items taken from communities and sent to museums and other institutions, including the Vatican. That work included advocacy with governments and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as a March 31, 2022 meeting with Pope Francis at the Holy See. The AFN says the effort continued under Pope Leo XIV, who returned 62 cultural items on Dec. 6, 2025 for immediate transfer to Indigenous communities in Canada.
In a statement, Woodhouse Nepinak said many of the returned belongings are not simply “artifacts,” but living and sacred parts of First Nations cultures. She described the return as a significant step in the broader journey toward healing and reconciliation.
Ceremony and protocol were central to the process
The AFN said proper protocol and ceremony were followed throughout the return process. In late November, Woodhouse Nepinak travelled to Vatican City with a delegation of First Nations leaders, Elders, Knowledge Keepers and Residential School survivors to witness the items departing safely and ceremonially. The AFN also supported four First Nations youth who accompanied the items on the flight home.
Canadian Press reported that five items were publicly unveiled Tuesday at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, while two additional crates containing items whose origins have not yet been confirmed were also opened. The items publicly identified include a birch bark sap collector from Akwesasne, embroidered gloves from Athabasca Chipewyan, a wooden bowl and spoon from Manitoulin Island, and a model cradle board from Ontario.
What happens next
The AFN says Elders, Knowledge Keepers, academics and other experts will help determine the provenance of each item. Officials from the Canadian Museum of History, along with museum and archive experts from across the country, are expected to support that work. Once provenance is established, the Nation and community of origin will decide where each item will reside and how it will be used.
Woodhouse Nepinak said the journey is not over, and that the goal is true repatriation — seeing the items returned to their home communities. She also said the work will continue to bring other sacred belongings home from institutions in Canada and around the world.
Why the moment matters in Northwestern Ontario
For First Nations in Thunder Bay and across Northwestern Ontario, the return is another reminder that repatriation is not only about museum collections. It is also about who holds authority over sacred belongings, how culture is protected across generations and how communities define healing on their own terms.
That broader significance is reflected in the AFN’s message: the items are to be treated as living cultural relatives, and decisions about their future belong with the Nations they came from. In a region where Indigenous identity, language and ceremony remain central to community life, that approach is likely to resonate far beyond the national capital.
