“Museums and institutions across Canada still hold many of our ancestors and belongings taken without our consent,” Brandy George, an archaeologist from Kettle and Stony Point First Nation in southern Ontario, told the assembly.
“Museums are starting to listen and some have returned sacred items and ancestors to our nations. It’s been a long time coming but as we know, the work isn’t done. It’s not enough.”
A resolution before the assembly called on the AFN to create First Nations-led task force to develop a national repatriation strategy. It also called on the federal government to implement the recommendations from the Canadian Museums Association’s 2022 report on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including long-term funding to support First Nations’ repatriation efforts.
Janis Kahentóktha Bomberry, executive director and CEO of the Canadian Museums Association told the assembly that a lot of the work in repatriation has fallen on communities.
“That’s doing the research, locating the belongings, accessing site visits, arranging travel at the community’s expense the majority of the time,” said Bomberry.
She said it’s important to develop national repatriation legislation with a well-funded framework.
“One of the biggest gaps we are seeing is funding
