By The Canadian Press

First Nations leaders unveil more items repatriated from the Vatican

Mar 10, 2026 | 12:12 PM

OTTAWA — First Nations leaders on Tuesday unveiled five items repatriated to their communities after being held at the Vatican for more than a century. They also unboxed another two crates of items with origins that have yet to be determined.

The returned items include a birch bark sap collector from Akwesasne, embroidered leather gloves from Athabasca Chipewyan, a wooden bowl and spoon from Manitoulin Island and a model cradle board from somewhere in Ontario.

The items that have not yet been traced back to their communities of origin — which were unboxed in a private ceremony on Tuesday — include a bow and arrow, a loom, a child-sized jacket, an adult-sized dress and several pairs of moccasins.

Katisha Paul, the women’s representative for the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, accompanied the items on their trip back from Rome.

She was present Tuesday at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., as Indigenous leaders unscrewed the lids from the massive blue crates that carried the items, wrapped in tissue paper and protected by packing foam, across the Atlantic.

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After Paul unwrapped a child-sized jacket made of hide and adorned with trade and glass seed beads, she paused with her eyes closed for a few moments.

“I was praying to whoever wore the piece, letting them know we’re OK,” Paul later told The Canadian Press.

“I instantly had a feeling that I just needed to take care of the spirit of the ancestor who wore that jacket to begin with, understanding that we are the caretakers … Even though that ancestor is no longer with us, they have direct lineage to people who are walking right now.”

Anishinabek Nation Grand Chief Linda Debassige’s connection to one of the items is especially close. Her uncle’s name is etched onto the spoon and bowl from Manitoulin Island.

“He signed it by hand, and wrote on the bowl, ‘onagan,’ and on the spoon he wrote, ’emikwân,’ in our older dialect,” Debassige said.

It took seven generations for the spoon and bowl to return home, she said.

“These items represent our history, that we’ve always been here,” she said. “That we are always going to be here.”

The items unboxed Tuesday are the last to be showcased of the 62 items repatriated to Indigenous communities in Canada after being held in the Vatican collection for decades.

In 2022, an Indigenous delegation met with Pope Francis in Rome a year after the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation announced that possible unmarked graves had been found at the site of the former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

The news sparked global outrage and a national push for reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

During the Rome visit, delegates were given a private viewing of items held by the church — some of which had not been seen in public in decades.

The 62 items were among thousands sent to Rome by missionaries around the world for an exhibit organized by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

In November, Pope Leo XIV said the items would be transferred to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which said it would immediately turn them over to Indigenous communities in Canada.

That decision followed years of negotiations that at times involved then-prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said the repatriation is an emotional moment and the culmination of years of work by First Nations leaders.

“Our relatives are home,” she said Tuesday.

“For First Nations, many of these items are not simply ‘artifacts’ — they are living, sacred parts of our cultures, to be treasured by communities and used in ceremony. This is a significant step in our journey to healing and reconciliation.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2026.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press