Inuvialuit want their kayak back from Vatican Museums

The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation wants a kayak made by Inuvialuit people returned to its homeland.

The kayak, along with several other Indigenous artifacts, is currently on display in the Vatican Museums.

"It is not 'the Pope's kayak' and rightly belongs in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, where its lessons and significance can benefit Inuvialuit culture and communities," reads a press release from the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, which represents the collective interests of the Inuvialuit in the western Arctic.

The organization has called displaying the artifacts "insensitive," given ongoing revelations related to the abuse and deaths of Indigenous children at Canadian residential schools.

Ry Moran, associate university librarian for reconciliation at the University of Victoria, says repatriation of Indigenous objects is important, "so that we can both regain agency over this information and fundamentally put it into the service of healing and well-being both now and into the future."

The repatriation of such objects is stated in the United National Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report, said Moran, who is Métis.

He said museums need to be transparent about what they hold and open to the return of materials if that's what's desired by a community.

Ongoing consent is needed, he said.

That's something the Inuvialuit have made clear the Vatican Museums does not have.

CBC News could not reach the Vatican by press time. However, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said, "with respect to this or other requests for the return of artifacts, the CCCB would be willing to assist in mediating that conversation with the Vatican."

Bishop Jon Hansen is the Catholic bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, which includes the Inuvialuit settlement region. 

He said there is no right or wrong about how Inuvialuit are feeling about the kayak, but the intentions of the exhibit were different than how news of the display was received by the group.

The reason the kayak and other artifacts previously in storage were brought out for display "was primarily so that the Pope could welcome the delegation coming to Rome this December." (The visit of Indigenous delegates to the Vatican was postponed on Tuesday due to concerns about the omicron variant). 

Hansen said the exhibit was intended "to honour those people and to welcome them in a good way."