Off to find ancestors

Page 6

Patricia Moore has a big job ahead of her, but she is taking on the challenge with plenty of courage.

Moore will be traveling to New York, Chicago, Seattle and possible, Denver to begin the process of reclaiming her Haida ancestors' remains.

"There have been so many hurts with a lot of the things that were taken away, like our children and culture. I think that this is one of the steps toward getting back part of that," said Moore. "There are so many other things that go with that, but these are our people and they belong here and they had no right to take them. So I think that by going there and bringing them home gives me a sense of who I am. It allows me to say that I am Haida and I can take care of myself and my people."

Moore, 25, is part of the six-month Young Canada works International internship program funded through the federal government. As the program requires interns to travel abroad the Old Massett Village council Repatriation Project works with the program in providing internships to fulfill that mandate.

"I'm pretty excited about it. I really believe in the repatriation and how it heals the community," said Moore. "It feels good to be part of it. I think just getting into the position has really helped me understand more."

Moore saw a posting for the position last spring when she returned to her community from taking her BA in political science at the University of British Columbia.

"I had decided that I wasn't going to apply for it because I was going to go back to school. But I don't know what it was, something just said that it was time to stay home for a while and get that connection back," said Moore. "When you move away, that connection is not really there. It is so different when you live in the community and see people everyday and get to say hello and acknowledge who they are."

That reconnecting with her people has required Moore to do extensive research in her new position. Since beginning the internship, Moore has been locating the Haida artifacts and ancestral remains all over the world.

"She also has a lot of work doing inventory in trying to find out where all the artifacts and human remains are. So she is going to be doing a lot of that letter writing and research," said Lucelle Bell, Heritage Resource Officer for Old Massett Village Council. "That is probably her main responsibility and she helps out with repatriation fund raising. We are a pretty grassroots organization and do the fund raising with a lot of community events, and she is part of that as well."

As Moore visits and sets up meetings with various American museum curators she will be laying the groundwork for her people to make the future trip to reclaim their ancestral remains.

"I'll be meeting with people to set up arrangements as to how the repatriation will be done. To make sure that we have the proper facilities to perform our sacred ceremonies when we do officially come to do the repatriation," said Moore. "We will need accommodations for some of the delegates that are coming down and to make the people aware that we are going to be there. In that way everyone will be comfortable and prepared."

Besides the negotiation aspects and her staying on a tight budget while she travels, Moore will also be making sure to attend any events related to her work, explained Bell.

"I am very confident that Patricia can do the work cut out for her," said Bell. "She has already exceeded her requirements. She is very creative."

As Moore prepares for her upcoming trip in February she is looking forward to the work ahead of her.

"It's a good feeling to know that I am going and that they trusted me to go," said Moore.