First Nation in B.C. pays almost $40,000 to bring 140-year-old robe home

A man who helped return a 140-year-old Tlingit robe to a First Nation in British Columbia where it was created says it's as if the regalia called out to its people and they are bringing it home.

The intricately woven Chilkat robe, made of mountain goat wool and yellow cedar bark, was purchased by the Taku River Tlingit First Nation in northwestern B.C. for almost $40,000 after it went up for sale at a Toronto auction house last year.

The robe arrived in Whitehorse Wednesday and will travel 175 kilometres south to the First Nation's traditional territory in Atlin, B.C., where it's expected to go on display and may be used in future ceremonies.

While the community celebrates the return of a piece of its heritage, the First Nation said Indigenous people should not be forced to buy back regalia that was stolen from them.

It's calling on the federal government to take action to prevent similar situations in the future.

Tlingit Elder and master carver Wayne Carlick said his heart "probably exploded" when the robe's close connection to his community was confirmed after he saw it online.

As an artist and residential school survivor, Carlick said looking at the robe and understanding the history it represents makes him emotional.

"I think about when I got home from residential school, I didn't see any art, I didn't see any language, I didn't see any dancing or singing. People were suffering and really hurting and there was no art," he said in an interview from the airport in Vancouver.

"It took a long time before I started seeing First Nation's art, West Coast First Nation's art, and so it took a long time to get to this point."

Carlick said getting the robe back is a chance for the younger generation to see art in a way he couldn't at their age, and to learn about the nation's history and resilience.

It was late last year when a friend of Carlick's first spotted the robe up for auction and sent him the online link.

Carlick said he's seen many similar items but this was the first one he's come across with wolves, an animal common in Taku River Tlingit culture.

The pair started doing research, calling museums around North America, before coming to the realization the robe was from a well-known Taku River Tlingit family.