Bringing the ancestors home

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Fourteen Haida ancestors were repatriated from the provincial museum, placed in their own bentwood boxes and brought home for reburial. They are the latest of many Haida remains to be returned to their communities after long years stored in museums across Canada and the United States.

"It started at the Royal British Columbia Museum. We approached the museum first. That is something that we always stress, that it's really important for the First Nations to do the initiations," said Vince Collison. "It's got to come from the community. They are the ones that have to initiate that activity."

In all, the Haida have repatriated about 202 human remains. There are still institutions, especially in the United States and beyond, that have Haida ancestral remains. The Field Museum in Chicago and the museums in New York are next on the list for initiating repatriations.

"The numbers sound staggering but we have heard from other First Nations some 5,000 human remains were taken away and still have to be repatriated," he said.

"It's actually good that there are no laws in Canada concerning repatriations because this way, we don't get stuck in a bureaucracy," said Nika Collison. "In the United States, there is the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and through that process there is a lot of red tape and the museums end up taking as long as they want."

The Skidegate community got involved in the repatriations in February 1999. They worked with the Old Massett Repatriation Committee and their initial work was repatriating ancestral remains from the University of British Columbia's, museum of anthropology. They repatriated six remains, four of which went to Skidegate.

The communities have been involved extensively in preparing for the repatriations. Bentwood boxes, blankets, and mats were prepared in order to respectfully re-bury the remains. The community members are the ones that plan and give direction. Andy Wilson was the overseer of the making of the bentwood boxes.

"The blankets were made by the school children. The bentwood boxes were also a community effort headed up by Andy," said Irene Willis. "The high school students came out and painted the bentwood boxes. Weavers go in and weave mats. It gives us that community place where we can all get together. Everyone in the community has been touched by that one event. The Elders share stories and through it there is a lot of goodness shared."

"It was really tough for us to figure out what we were going to do because we didn't have a process for reburial in our culture," Vince Collison said. "We had to figure out a reburial ceremony and also work out the issues of who is allowed around them."

He tells Raven's Eye that the youth especially had a hard time working out the issues. There were a lot of issues that kept coming up but it was the Elders who stepped in and guided them through the process. One sticking point was where the ancestors would be reburied. An Elder helped guide the process and allowed every person present to stand and speak what was on his or her mind. The decision was finally made to bury the ancestors within the community cemeteries in order to protect the remains from being disturbed again.

"The reason why we do this is because we think of them as our grandmothers and grandfathers," said Lucille Bell, a Haida from Old Massett.

The committee spoke about the importance of involving the community in the whole process. It was mentioned that the museums are all very busy and so if the First Nations are the ones to initiate the repatriation process then everything will happen quicker because the ball has started rolling. When the Haida sent a delegation of 24 members to

Hull, Que. for a repatriation ceremony at Canadian Museum of Civilization, there were others who were also Haida that came out and joined in the ceremonies. This was a time of great pride for the Haida, as well as a time to meet relatives for the first time.

"Repatriation gies birth. It is even more than the main focus which is bringing your ancestors home to rest and pay respect to. It brings people together. There is a cultural surge," said Nika Collison. "People who were scared to dance were out there so proud."