60 T艥ilhqotB次元官网网址檌n ancestral belongings have been returned to the T艥ilhqotB次元官网网址檌n Nation from the Museum of Vancouver (MOV). 

The items were repatriated by the T艥ilhqotB次元官网网址檌n National Government (TNG) and the MOV after a delegation of elders, youth, children, WomenB次元官网网址檚 Council members and former T艥ilhqotB次元官网网址檌n leaders travelled to Vancouver in February to bring the items home. TNG is the governing body of the T艥ilhqotB次元官网网址檌n people which comprise of six communities located throughout the T艥ilhqotB次元官网网址檌n (Chilcotin) territory.

Some of the belongings are now on display at the TNG Dasiqox office in Williams Lake. They include 29 qat艥B次元官网网址檃y (coiled root baskets), 29 lithics, one birch bark knife sheath and one pair of snowshoes made from wood, rawhide and sinew.  

B次元官网网址淥ur people, particularly our youth, have taken immense pride in the strength of our people represented in the baskets,B次元官网网址� said NitsB次元官网网址檌l蕯in (Chief) Joe Alphonse. B次元官网网址淭hese objects are an amazing showcase of the strength of the T艥ilhqotB次元官网网址檌n people.B次元官网网址�

TNG and MOV will continue working together, developing an exhibition to honour the MOVB次元官网网址檚 role in caretaking these objects and to recognize successful collaboration.  

B次元官网网址淥ur staff understands that we are only acting as caretakers of the belongings in the collection, that the stories and knowledge that animate them resides with the families and communities from which they originate,B次元官网网址� said Sharon M. Fortney who curates the museumB次元官网网址檚 Indigenous collections.

B次元官网网址淥ur goal is to build strong relationships with the communities we engage with, and we do that by recognizing their cultural autonomy.B次元官网网址� 

The MOV has scheduled an exhibition for the spring titled The Work of Repair: Redress and Repatriation and will feature a section celebrating the repatriation of Tsilhqot'in belongings.