Nova Scotia First Nation unveils Mi'kmaq regalia after more than a century in Australia

Mi’kmaq regalia dating back to the 1800s has returned to Millbrook First Nation in Nova Scotia after more than a century in an Australian museum.

Its grand unveiling took place Wednesday on National Indigenous Peoples Day at the Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre.

Millbrook First Nation Chief Bob Gloade says it was appropriate because it’s a day of celebrating history and culture.

“When we knew this regalia was coming back we selected this day to celebrate the regalia being back, not only in our community but in our territory for all Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people to enjoy, to embrace, to welcome back,” he said.

Heather Stevens, manager and senior heritage interpreter with the Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre, says the regalia’s return was the first international repatriation in Nova Scotia.

“So applying and talking to the government, it was the very first for them too,” she said.

Stevens has said previously she believes Samuel Huyghue, the son of a British soldier who was born in Prince Edward Island and moved throughout the Maritimes, saw a Mi'kmaq artist's work and commissioned the regalia’s pieces.

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.

The repatriation process to get the historical pieces back to the Maritimes earlier this year came with extensive paperwork and was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Records are telling me that it was made in the early 1840s. It has its robe, it has a pipe, moccasins, it has a pouch. This is something men would wear during celebrations,” Stevens says. “I am so honoured to have it here, it’s for our people. And it have it here, it just allows our people to connect, to understand and maybe want to continue on learning.”

Stevens adds its unveiling was an important experience for Indigenous youth.

“The young people, when I had watched them at the case for the regalia, it was a proud moment for me,” she says.

“Look at our youth, they’re proud of who they are and to see something like this, I know it’s going to allow them to continue to be proud and continue to believe in themselves. That’s what it means to me.”

Indigenous dancer Jennifer Maloney also said the regalia left her feeling overwhelmed and emotional.

“We’ve already been able to see pictures and not even know where they were, and now it’s like we’re getting to see it physically, just to see the pipe here, I can’t even put it into words.”

With files from The Canadian Press 

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