Glenbow returns sacred objects

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The return of 251 sacred objects from Calgary's Glenbow Museum to the Blackfoot Confederacy marks both an end and a beginning. It is the end of 10 years of negotiations regarding the repatriation of objects vital to Blackfoot communities in Southern Alberta and the beginning of a new relationship between the museum and First Nations people.

The hand-over, which took place Jan. 14 at the Glenbow, brought leaders of the Siksika, Peigan, and Blood together with museum officials and Premier Ralph Klein.

The process of returning sacred objects will be extended to include other First Nations, Klein announced. In the upcoming session of the Alberta Legislature, he said "the government will begin a process of consultation that will result in legislation supporting the repatriation of certain sacred objects of all Alberta's First Nations."

The objects returned included medicine pipes, headdresses and ceremonial bundles. Many came to the museum from private collectors but some came from the Blackfoot who were anxious to preserve them during a time when their culture was threatened.

The return of the objects will have a large impact on the members of the Blackfoot Confederacy, according to Frank Weasel Head, one of the signatories of the agreement.

"This is the essence of our lives as Blackfoot people. Our lives begin with these. As children, we connect our spirituality and our everyday life [to the sacred objects] and our children have sort of lost that," he said.

Like the premier, Weasel Head also has personal knowledge of the value of the sacred objects.

"Before I went to boarding school, I always saw a bundle being cared for by my mom and dad," he said. "They looked after it as they looked after us. They taught us by it, we learned by it, we learned respect, we learned responsibility to help care for it, but that was lost and now we have an opportunity... to regain those things."

This opportunity springs in large part from the respect and friendships that have developed between the Blackfoot Confederacy and Glenbow officials. This new relationship developed during the last 10 years as the Glenbow began lending sacred objects back to the Blackfoot.