Tŝilhqot’in Nation and Museum of Vancouver Work Together in Repatriation

Courtesy of the Tŝilhqot’in National Government:

The Tŝilhqot’in National Government (TNG), in partnership with the Museum of Vancouver (MOV), has completed the repatriation of over 60 Tŝilhqot’in ancestral belongings back to the Tŝilhqot’in territory. In February 2024, a delegation of elders, youth, children, Women’s Council members and former Tŝilhqot’in leaders travelled to Vancouver to bring the belongings home.  

The items repatriated include: 29 qatŝ’ay (coiled root baskets), 29 lithics, one birch bark knife sheath (embroidered with dyed porcupine quill) and one pair of snowshoes made from wood, rawhide and sinew. Some of these belongings are currently on display at the TNG Dasiqox office in Williams Lake.

The TNG and MOV are continuing their partnership through the development of a collaborative exhibition to honour the MOV’s role in caretaking these objects, as well as to showcase the repatriation as an example of successful collaboration surrounding repatriation of ancestral belongings. “Celebrating Tsilhqot’in Repatriation” will be part of an exhibition titled, The Work of Repair: Redress and Repatriation at MOV, which is scheduled to open in the spring at the MOV.

About the Tŝilhqot’in National Government: The TNG is the governing body for the Tŝilhqot’in people. The Tŝilhqot’in Nation is comprised of six communities located throughout the Tŝilhqot’in (Chilcotin) territory and is the only Nation in Canada with a court declaration of Aboriginal title (Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia).

About the Museum of Vancouver: The Museum of Vancouver connects Vancouverites to each other and connects Vancouver to the world. The Museum’s programs, exhibitions and collections bring people together and inspire conversation about the future. The Museum is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring a socially connected, civically engaged city. The Museum of Vancouver and the city of Vancouver are located within the shared, unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.