Nisga'a totem returns home to B.C. from Scottish museum

By The Canadian Press | News | December 2nd 2022
A memorial totem pole is shown in this handout image provided by National Museums Scotland. Handout photo by The National Museums Scotland
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A totem pole that was taken without permission from the Nisga'a (nis-guh) First Nation in British Columbia nearly a century ago is on its way home.

The National Museum of Scotland says it has approved the community's request to transfer the hand-carved pole back to northwestern B-C.

A delegation of Nisga'a leaders travelled to Edinburgh last August to ask that it be returned.

Chief Earl Stephens says the Nisga'a believe the 11-metre pole is alive with the spirit of an ancestor, and it's now coming home to rest.

He says getting it back will allow the community to -- quote -- "connect our family, nation and our future generations with our living history."

An ethnographer researching Nisga'a village life took the pole in 1929.

The researcher then sold it to the Scottish museum, where it's been on display since 1930.

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The pole was carved from red cedar in 1855 in memorial of a Nisga'a chief.

December 2nd 2022

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