New reports offer roadmap to repatriation of Indigenous artifacts in BC and beyond

The two studies—developed in tandem by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council and K’yuu Enterprise Corporation—call for substantial funding from the provincial and the federal governments, a repatriation accreditation for museums, and a centralized database for communities to navigate the process and understand the costs.

The studies act as a framework for future planning and grant applications for First Nations looking to retrieve stolen artifacts.

The reports found that 100K BC First Nations items are in 229 institutions—museums and universities—around the globe, including 2,500 human remains. The survey only had a 50% response rate from BC First Nations, meaning the numbers are likely much higher than that.

In the last two years, RBCM has repatriated items to three BC First Nations. Last year, a chief’s seat built by master carver Captain Richard Carpenter was returned to Heiltsuk Nation in a dedicated ceremony after being held at RBCM for 113 years. In 2023, a Nuxalk Nation totem pole was removed by crane from the museum before being returned to Bella Coola. Later that year, Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nation delivered a declaration of repatriation to RBCM. All of these items were taken by force or coercion, the nations said.

“Organizing community, conducting research, and preparing for repatriation is often an intense, long-term, and costly process, and that is just the beginning,” one report states.

The studies highlight that 60% of both BC First Nations and colonial institutions—museums and universities—that responded to the survey reported having spent well over $1 million on repatriation. Of these two groups, 50% responded that they would need $1 million or more over the next five years to continue repatriation work.

The reports explain that repatriation is a multi-year process that can be divided into four distinct phases:

• Phase 1: Starting out with planning and research within the community, building repatriation teams and hiring staff, conducting community consensus and engagement, and starting the necessary research to locate Ancestors and Belongings.
• Phase 2: Preparing for repatriation at institutions. This phase focuses on working directly with institutions, including travel, on-site research, and preparation for repatriation. BC First Nations would begin developing the infrastructure to hold repatriated items and plan the required long-term care for the items and remains.
• Phase 3: Repatriation takes place, with plans for transporting objects back home and training on relocating the belongings.
• Phase 4: Post-repatriation stewardship—which includes reinterment/burials, maintenance of grave houses and cultural facilities for long-term care, shared stewardship agreements, and ongoing research. This is usually when First Nations begin to focus on education, exhibitions, publications, and research projects. There should also be funding for First Nations to facilitate items in their own museums or cultural centres.

There are currently no funding programs in BC or Canada dedicated exclusively to repatriation, and previous funding programs were limited to one-year terms, making them insufficient to support the long-term needs of BC First Nations.

The cost for a moderate-to-large-sized First Nation community in Phase 1 and 2 is approximately $450K per phase, with Phase 3 costing just over $500K and Phase 4 costing $1.1 million. Less money would be needed for nations that have experience with repatriation—currently 40% in BC are involved in some form of repatriation—and costs would shrink further year over year, the studies said.

It’s estimated that the average community-level repatriation costs would range from $3.2 million to $4 million per community over five years. Funding repatriation for all 204 BC First Nations would cost nearly $663 million over five years.

The report says repatriation will be successful when BC and Canada:

• formally and publicly acknowledge that the vast majority of BC First Nation remains and belongings held in institutions were removed from their territory by theft and duress and that Indigenous communities are the rightful stewards of these items
• commit to substantial intergenerational funding and support BC First Nation repatriation locally, nationally, and internationally
• support the development of a First Nation-led, centralized organizing body and program focused on the work of repatriation
• support the development of a First Nation-led strategy—along with policies and laws that protect items still in home territories
• recognize that First Nation repatriation extends beyond remains and objects held in colonial institutions
• acknowledge that “Land Back” is an essential act of reparation and restitution and is required for successful repatriation
• create a repatriation accreditation program for colonial institutions, including museums and universities

“We call on federal and provincial governments to commit sufficient funding for First Nations repatriation work in BC,” one of the reports states.

“This is a concrete and necessary step toward fulfilling colonial governments’ obligations to BC First Nations, and is crucial to supporting First Nations’ capacity to repatriate their Ancestors and Belongings and to care for them in ways that foster the revitalization of their cultural heritage.”