This article discusses the atrocities committed in Residential Schools and may be triggering for some readers. Those seeking support may contact the Office of Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation or Four Directions. For immediate assistance, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Hotline can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.
Returning what was never yours shouldn’t be considered a gift.
The Vatican has returned 62 Indigenous artifacts to Canada, over 100 years after they were taken. While this represents a historic step in repairing the relationship between the Catholic Church and Canada’s Indigenous people, the remaining artifacts, the cost of the return, and the fact that they’re being returned to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) leave us wondering about the legitimacy of the gesture.
The worry is that the gesture’s more about imagery than respect. With the Catholic Church under fire for its role in colonization and the Residential School system in Canada, the very least they could do is return the stolen artifacts. While 62 artifacts will be returned, over 100,000 from various Indigenous groups remain in the Vatican.
It’s disappointing to see this exchange on the church’s terms, with the Canadian Indigenous groups footing the cost of the return, and the artifacts being returned to the CCCB rather than the Indigenous groups directly. Though the CCCB plans to return the artifacts to the Indigenous groups, it would be nice to see Pope Leo XIV interact with the Indigenous communities directly, learning the significance of what was taken and following up on Pope Francis’s historic apology from 2022.
Considering Indigenous people have faced violent abuse and cultural erasure at the hands of the Catholic Church, the artifacts’ return should have been subsidized by the church. While Indigenous people in Canada experience significantly higher rates of poverty compared to the non-Indigenous population—due to years of subjugation by the church—the office of the Pope and the Vatican have an estimated net worth between $10 and $15 billion. The wealth disparity should be enough to indicate who should be footing the cost of the return.
While the Church claims the artifacts were given willingly to the church, most argue a true gift would’ve been impossible due to the power imbalances between the church and Indigenous people. Imbalances rooted in coercion, forced exploitation, and the church’s role in colonialism. When one group holds near total control over another’s land and culture, a true gift is nearly impossible.
Considering the horrible atrocities that were committed at residential schools under the guise of a “catholic education,” returning a few stolen artifacts is only the beginning.
The Vatican isn’t the only museum with stolen art on display. The British Museum holds thousands of items on display that were unwillingly handed over by Indigenous Australians. Similarly, Egyptian scholars have been asking the British Museum for the Rosetta Stone, and still haven’t received it.
Though the gift’s an important gesture, and hopefully the start of a movement to return Indigenous artifacts to their rightful home, it only comes after years of sustained requests for the artifacts’ return. Indigenous groups shouldn’t have to work so hard to regain what was rightfully theirs.
There’s an intricate relationship between how art is created and displayed that has been thrown completely out of balance due to colonialism. While the return isn’t perfect, hopefully, other museums can look to the Vatican and consider returning what rightfully belongs to Indigenous people.
—Journal Editorial Board
Tags
Canada, CCB, indigenous affairs, Indigenous Art, Pope Leo VIV, the Pope, the Vatican
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