Inuit kayak among artifacts repatriated to Canada from the Vatican

The Vatican has returned several Inuit artifacts to Canada, which were unveiled today at the Canadian Museum of History. CTV’s Dylan Dyson reports.

A centrepiece in repatriation negotiations between Inuit groups and the Vatican has been returned to Canadian soil.

A kayak, believed to be between 100 and 125 years old, was unveiled at the Canadian Museum of History Tuesday, along with 61 other Indigenous artifacts.

“This kayak would have been used for beluga hunting,” says Natan Obed, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, an organization that works to improve the health and wellbeing of Inuit in Canada through research, advocacy, public outreach and education.

“This would have been one of the most essential tools that an Inuit hunter would have to be able to care for himself and his community.”

Obed says negotiations with the Vatican were led by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, after the kayak was seen on display in the Vatican Museum in 2022.

“I know Minister Melanie Joly and Prime Minister Trudeau both intervened directly with Pope Francis and with the highest levels of the Catholic Church specifically on this item,” said Obed.

“That somehow morphed into a larger conversation, that led to 61 other items being identified by the Catholic Church to be repatriated.”

Some of the other 61 items unveiled at the Museum of History Tuesday include Inuit water sacks, sewing kits, rope, blades, and harpoon tips.

Inuit leaders believe the kayak may have been taken from a northern gravesite decades ago by explorers, as crucial items such as these were laid to rest above ground when their owners passed.

The items are being held at the museum in Gatineau but are not on display for public viewing. Instead, the museum is holding the items as it has the proper safety and climate control conditions to preserve them.

“They will be in storage for now,” explains Caroline Dromaguet, president & CEO of the Canadian Museum of History.

“Our partners may choose to have them available more publicly, but that is just part of that longer process that we’ll get to here shortly.”

Obed says in time the plan is to return each of the repatriated items to the northern communities from which they were taken.

“This is going to be a process that will take months and maybe perhaps years to fully understand and attribute each of the items, where it belongs.”

Obed adds that Inuit communities are not looking to repatriate all of their historical artifacts, with many handed out as gifts over the years.

“The items that were taken from us or taken from our gravesites and taken forcibly, those are of concern and consideration to us.”

Canada’s Minister of Sport, Adam van Koeverden, an Olympic gold medallist in the kayak, was also in attendance for the unveiling.

“The repatriation is part of a call to action. It’s part of the agreement that was made with respect to the apology that the Pope undertook,” van Koeverden told CTV News Ottawa. “And [today is] a great day.”

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