An Inuvialuit leader wants the rare Western Arctic kayak held by the Vatican Museums sent back to the Mackenzie Delta region, where it was built a century ago.
In a statement released Friday, Duane Ningaqsiq Smith, chair and chief executive officer of the Inuvialuit Regional Corp. (IRC) in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, said the IRC “is seeking the immediate return of all Indigenous artifact held in the collection of the Vatican Museum,” including the kayak. ...
While the Vatican’s possession of the kayak was no secret, the IRC was apparently unaware of it. The 4.4-metre hunting craft is referred to extensively in “The Americas” book published by the Vatican Museums’ ethnological museum (now known as Anima Mundi), and The Globe wrote about the Royal Ontario Museum’s examination of the boat in 2004. ...
The Vatican Museums say the kayak and the other objects from the Mackenzie Delta area were “gifts” to the Vatican. They were collected by Joseph Élie Breynat, the Roman Catholic bishop in the Mackenzie area, in 1924 and shipped to Rome, where they became part of Pope Pius XI’s world expo of Indigenous artifacts. Some 100,000 objects from the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australasia were put on display for a year, after which much of the vast collection was put into storage. The Western Arctic kayak has been in and out of storage for the better part of a century and has not been on display for at least two decades, perhaps longer. It is in remarkably good shape, even if the sealskin cover has a few rips.
“This kayak is a piece of Inuvialuit history, made by Inuvialuit traditions,” Mr. Smith said. “It is not ‘the Pope’s kayak’ and rightfully belongs to the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, where its lessons and significance can benefit Inuvialuit culture and communities.”
It was gifted to the Vatican where it will remain in good shape (as can be expected) and be seen by millions of visitors, as opposed to sitting in a garage going to rack and ruin benefiting no one.
But grievances or something.
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