‘Not a simple journey’: a rare Inuvialuit kayak has come home from the Vatican Museums

After a 20-year effort, a rare Inuvialuit kayak and 61 other artifacts made by Indigenous communities across Canada have been returned from the Vatican Museums to Montreal. The repatriation, which was a key component of the ongoing healing process following revelations of tragedies at Canada’s residential schools, was supported by Pope Francis. The kayak, one of only six known intact Western Arctic kayaks, will be transferred to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa. The return of these objects is seen as a symbolic and meaningful gesture of reconciliation.