The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is calling for the Vatican to return sacred First Nation artifacts taken from Indigenous communities during the residential school era.
The FSIN, which represents Saskatchewan’s First Nations, has formally requested the repatriation of items including sacred pipes, medicine bundles, ceremonial regalia and other cultural objects currently housed in the Vatican Museums in Vatican City. Many of these artefacts were confiscated illegally.
"These sacred items are not merely museum pieces - they are connections to our ancestors, our ceremonies an our identities as First Nations people," said FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron.
"Reconciliation is a word that is tossed around but we know that meaningful action is the core of what it actually means, returning these artifactswould demonstrate a genuine commitment to healing the immense trauma caused by the residential school system and honours the survivors who have waited for generations for justice."
The Vatican's extensive collection of Indigenous artifacts from around the world includes items from First Nations what is now Canada.
Cheif Cameron added, "The Chuch has acknowledged the harm of residential schools but those words must be followed by actions. Returning what was taken from us is not charity - it is duty. Pope Leo XIV has an historic opportunity to correct this wrong and hep write a new chapter in the relationship between the Church and First Nations peoples."
Main Image: Chief of FSIN Bobby Cameron
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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