A First Nation in northern Ontario has reclaimed artifacts and centuries-old human remains from the Canadian Museum of History.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Brent Niganobe, chief of Mississauga First Nation, located along the north shore of Lake Huron.
Niganobe said they reclaimed six boxes of artifacts and two skulls — one of a child and another of an older adult — from the museum. The artifacts and human remains were originally dug up in the 1970s and 1980s from what is now a golf course run by the Town of Blind River.
Niganobe said that since the mid-1990s, his community was aware of the human remains and artifacts, which include items like a pipe and beads, and since then, past chiefs have tried to repatriate the artifacts.
“We’ve hit roadblocks,” he said.
Blind River Mayor Sally Hagman and Mississauga First Nation Chief Brent Niganobe visit the Huron Pines golf course, where centuries-old burial mounds were recently fenced off.
He said the museum told past chiefs and council members that the community did not have the expertise to take care of the artifacts and human remains.
“We know how to take care of these artifacts and these are our artifacts.”
Niganobe said efforts from the museum and the Town of Blind River, which has since fenced-off burial mounds on the Huron Pines golf course, are sincere steps toward reconciliation.
“We’ve appreciated that Blind River has worked with us, obviously correcting those past wrongs,” he said.
“And like I said, that’s what reconciliation actually is, is actually doing the work, more than talking about it.”
Blind River Mayor Sally Hagman previously told CBC News she knew she had to do something right away as soon as she learned there were ancient Indigenous burial mounds at the golf course.
“You want to do the right thing and I feel what we’re doing today is the right thing,” she said.
Mississauga First Nation is planning a ceremony to repatriate the artifacts and remains for Monday afternoon.