Polotek First Nation in Chapel Island wants a wooden altar back

The Polotek First Nation in Chapel Island, N.S. wants a wooden altar back that has been in an area church for a century, reports CTV Atlantic. Mi’kmaq Elders say the altar, rescued during a British attack on a French fort, was a gift from French missionaries in the late 18th century.

“The Natives took this from the church before it burned down and they hid it in the woods,” said Mi’kmaq historian Lillian Marshall. It was later given or loaned to Fr. John MacDougall in Johnstown, N.S. in 1891.

“Somehow it was asked to be located here for safekeeping and it has been here ever since,” said Gail Johnson at Sacred Heart Church. “The parishioners here, of course we love the altar, and it’s been here for all these years.”

But Mi’kmaq leaders want it returned.

“It’s been here long enough. We had it over 100 years before that, and they had it over 100 years,” said Potlotek Chief Wilbert Marshall. He wants it back by spring.