In the Vatican it rejoined an unknown quantity of other cultural belongings made by Indigenous peoples – many of which groups are calling to be repatriated.
In March, 2022, Inuit, Métis and First Nations delegates travelled to Rome to meet with the Pope and deliver a message on the devastating effects of residential schools, the majority of which were run by the Catholic Church.
During the visit, in a gesture of reconciliation, Vatican officials privately showed delegates a display of cultural items held in the Anima Mundi, an ethnological museum within the Vatican.
Among them were carved face masks from Canada’s West Coast, embroidered leather gloves of Cree origins, a colourful Gwich’in baby belt, and an extremely rare, century-old Inuvialuit kayak from the Western Arctic…
In recent years, Vatican officials, including Pope Francis, have made a number of commitments relating to reconciliation and returning Indigenous cultural belongings still held in the Vatican’s museums.
Despite these pledges, a Globe and Mail investigation has found no evidence that, in 2023, the Vatican has had direct talks or repatriated anything to Inuit, Métis and First Nations groups, which are calling for their items to come home.
