Stolen totem pole to be formally welcomed home to Nisga’a territory after nearly a century in Scottish museum

A memorial totem pole belonging to members of the Nisga'a Nation will be formally rematriated on Friday, after being on display in a Scottish museum for nearly a century.

The return of the pole will be celebrated with a ceremony and feast for as many as 1,000 people in the Nass Valley. It will be formally rematriated to the Nisga'a Museum, located in Laxgalts'ap, a village northwest of Terrace, B.C.

The pole was taken without the nation's consent in 1929 by colonial ethnographer Marius Barbeau, who then sold it to the Scottish museum.

In a statement (new window), the Nisga'a said the pole represents a chapter of the Peoples' cultural sovereignty and is a living constitutional and visual record.

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Stolen totem pole travels from Scotland back to Nisga'a Nation

A totem pole taken from the Nisga'a in 1929 is set to be rematriated, having travelled from the National Museum of Scotland back to northwestern B.C.

It said Barbeau took the pole without the consent of the House of Ni'isjoohl — one of around 50 houses within the Nisga'a Nation — during a period when the Nisga'a Peoples were away from their villages for the annual hunting, fishing and harvesting season.

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The negotiations over the rematriation of the pole have taken a year. A Nisga'a delegation travelled to Scotland (new window) to ask for its return in August 2022, and the museum's board of trustees approved the plan (new window) later that year.

The nation uses the term rematriation instead of repatriation because it is a matrilineal community — that is, based on kinship with the mother's line.

A lost relative

The Ni'isjoohl memorial pole is a house pole that was carved and erected in the 1860s. It tells the story of Ts'wawit, a warrior who was next in line to be chief before he was killed in a conflict with a neighbouring nation.

Noxs Ts'aawit (Dr. Amy Parent), a member of the nation and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous education and governance, first discovered the memorial pole was in Scotland four years ago. She said her ancestral grandmother had the pole carved and erected in honour of Ts'wawit.

• Cultural items belonging to Nuxalk, Gitxaala Nations to be repatriated (new window)

We know that a carver breathes life into a pole when it is first carved. And so after that point we consider that totem poll to have a living spirit in it and to be a relative. And so it's like bringing a family member home after being gone for almost 100 years, she said.

It's very significant to have this reunion, and to have this return.

Enlarge image (new window)

Parent was among the delegation that travelled to Scotland to view the memorial pole, and described the emotional moments when she saw it for the first time.

We could actually feel the pole let out a sigh of relief when we walked into the room and that was the first time I've ever felt a totem pole and could just feel like the room was moving with us.

A long road home

The pole began its journey in late August, travelling in the belly of a Canadian military aircraft.

While the Scottish museum initially planned to transport the 11-metre pole by ship, Parent said she felt moving it by plane would reduce the risk of damage.

Eva Clayton, elected president of the Nisga'a Nation, said the day will be one of mixed emotions, and will be an educational opportunity for the Nisga'a youth.

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It's one of joy, one of happiness, and one that brings tears to one's eyes because we have one of the long lost artifacts that has made its way home, she said.

It's going to be a very educational experience for the younger generation, and we look forward to carrying on our culture. With the physical presence of the pole, it will be giving our stories credibility.

In 2007, the United Kingdom voted to support the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous People, part of which calls for the return of ceremonial objects.

In 2010, the Royal B.C. Museum and the Canadian Museum of History returned 276 historical and spiritual artifacts to the Nisga'a (new window) under the terms of the treaty signed in 2000 by the Nisga'a and the governments of Canada and B.C.

The Nisga'a said, to date, only one totem pole has been successfully returned from a European museum (new window). The Haisla G'psgolox pole was returned from Sweden in 2006.

CBC News