Mi'kmaq regalia to return home to Nova Scotia after 130 years in an Australian museum
Mi'kmaq regalia kept in an Australian museum for more than 130 years will finally be returned to Millbrook First Nation in Nova Scotia -- close to where the items are believed to have been crafted by a Mi'kmaq artist in the 1800s.
Heather Stevens, manager and senior heritage interpreter with the Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre, will travel to Melbourne next month and bring the regalia home.
"This is going to touch a lot of Mi'kmaq people, it's been a long journey," Stevens said in an interview Wednesday.
Work to repatriate Mi'kmaq moccasins, a jacket, a pipe and a brooch, began 12 years ago, Stevens said.
"This is a very big part of our history to bring back to our people here in Mi'kma'ki."
She said it will be incredibly meaningful to have these important pieces returned to the place near where it is believed a Mi'kmaq artist made them.
Stevens said her understanding is that Samuel Huyghue, the son of a British soldier who was born in Prince Edward Island and moved throughout the Maritimes, saw the artist's work and commissioned the pieces that are now in the Melbourne Museum.
"A woman from either Sipekne'katik or Millbrook was making the regalia .... And he saw her making it and loved it and knew that he needed it to be with him because, in his mindset, he thought he needed to save our culture and our history because he felt that it was going to go away and that he would be able to protect at least something," Stevens said of Huyghue.
Huyghue, who was a civil servant, artist and writer, kept the regalia with him when he moved to England and then to Australia in the 1850s, where he died in 1891. Upon his death, he entrusted the Mi'kmaq pieces to the Melbourne Museum, where they have been ever since.
For years, Stevens had been developing a relationship with the Museum and making a case for why the regalia should be returned to Nova Scotia. The repatriation process came with extensive paperwork and was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
And next month, Stevens, accompanied by a local Mi'kmaq pipe-carrier who will perform ceremonies in Melbourne and in Nova Scotia upon the regalia's return, will make a trip to the museum and return with the pieces to Millbrook First Nation.
"It means so much to First Nations people to bring things back; this regalia actually has spirit with it. So the regalia coming back alone is not something we believe is proper," Stevens said.
"My whole outlook was that I was going down there and I was going to bring it back with me home on the same plane, the same layovers, everything."
The plan is for these items to be displayed prominently in Millbrook's cultural centre -- they will be the first items visitors see when they walk in.
"It's going to be surreal, I'll tell you that," Stevens said. "I don't know if I'll be able to hold my emotions back each time I see it."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2023.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Syria's Assad and his family are in Moscow after Russia granted them asylum, say Russian news agencies
Syria's Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Russia and have been granted asylum by the Russian authorities, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday, citing a Kremlin source.
Baby found dead in south Edmonton parking lot: police
Police are investigating the death of an infant in south Edmonton.
Trump calls for 'immediate ceasefire' in Ukraine after meeting Zelenskyy in Paris
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, shortly after a meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming Kyiv 'would like to make a deal' to end the more than 1,000-day war.
A man, a bike and a gun: Police search for evidence to solve the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on the streets of New York
As the investigation into the fatal shooting of a health care executive in Manhattan enters its fifth day, New York City police are missing key pieces of evidence.
Updated advisory urges Canadians to avoid all travel to Syria, leave if possible
Ottawa is urging Canadians to avoid all travel to Syria and to consider leaving the country if it's safe to do so.
Trump says he can't guarantee tariffs won't raise U.S. prices and promises swift immigration action
Donald Trump said he can't guarantee that his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won't raise prices for American consumers and he suggested once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned.
After $80 million Lotto Max, another lucky Lotto 6/49 ticket sold in Quebec
Lotto-Québec announced on Sunday that "the classic jackpot of $5 million, offered in yesterday's (Saturday) Lotto 6/49 draw, was won thanks to a ticket sold in Quebec."
MP Jamil Jivani meets U.S. vice president-elect amid Trump's tariff threats
A Conservative member of Parliament has tapped a longtime friendship to connect with Donald Trump's inner circle as Canada prepares for the president-elect’s return to the White House next month amid threats of devastating tariffs.
Canada 'falling so consistently short' on defence spending has hurt standing on world stage, but improving: U.S. ambassador
U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen says while Canada's defence spending is going in the right direction, the federal government's persistent failure to meet NATO targets has been damaging to the country's reputation on the world stage.