The six chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick (WNNB) are calling on the province to return Indigenous artifacts from the New Brunswick Museum.
It comes as all artifacts at the museum are being boxed for storage following news of the closure of its exhibition space in Market Square.
The chiefs said they were “alarmed and concerned” about what the closure of the museum means for these artifacts that have significant cultural value.
“Our ancestors speak to us through the objects, stories and songs they have left behind,” Chief Ross Perley of Neqotkuk First Nation said in a news release Thursday.
“The thought that our culture, our history, is languishing in some basement, draped in bubble wrap, is unbearable.”
The chiefs also want the Aboriginal Affairs Minister Arlene Dunn to reconvene the Archaeology Bilateral Table and continue to work on many important longer-term issues.
WNNB said its staff have had discussions with provincial representatives for years. They were working on a terms of reference, which included the repatriation of artifacts, from repositories in New Brunswick and elsewhere across Canada and around the world.
“These important discussions came to a halt more than a year ago when WNNB was told the provincial government was conducting an internal review of First Nation initiatives,” said the release.
WNNB noted that there has been a growing movement in recent years to see artifacts and remains returned to their Indigenous nations. Some provincial museums have already begun this process, including in British Columbia, they said.
You can view the full statement below:
Image: Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick/Facebook
