Assembly of First Nations joins calls for Hudson's Bay to return ceremonial items
WINNIPEG — Two First Nations groups have joined calls for Hudson's Bay to halt the sale of artifacts and return any cultural, ceremonial and sacred items to the communities that they belong to.
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The Assembly of First Nations and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak are supporting previous calls from Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to stop the sale of items that may belong to or be linked with First Nations people.
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'We want to just try (to) repatriate some of those artifacts. It's time that our stuff comes home,' said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak.
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An Ontario judge has given Canada's oldest retailer permission to move forward with an auction of the 4,400 artifacts and art pieces, along with the 355-year-old royal charter that launched the company.
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Woodhouse Nepinak also voiced her pleas in letters sent to the monitor for Hudson's Bay, which is under court protection from creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, and to Steven Guilbeault and Gary Anandasangaree, ministers of culture and Crown-Indigenous relations.
She asks the monitor to pause auctioning so it can better understand how the items were acquired and catalogued by the company.
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'While noting historical acquisition processes were very different in the past, it is possible that some of the collection may have been subjected to theft, misappropriation or illicitly acquired,' says the letter dated Monday.
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It adds that the Assembly of First Nations has no intention of interfering with the auction of non-First Nations objects or documents. It also asks for government help to put a pause on the auction until items have been identified and returned to their communities.
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Last week, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson issued a letter to the monitor saying it would 'morally irresponsible' to auction off cultural and historical items without consulting First Nations.
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The Bay is expected to return to court at a later date to detail exactly what items beyond the royal charter it wants to sell and how the auction process will unfold.
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The Assembly of First Nations has been told the federal government may be interested in acquiring the charter, says Woodhouse Nepinkak's letter. And if that's the case, it should be put it on display in Parliament.
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A lawyer representing the attorney general of Canada and several other federal government bodies, previously told court the government may be interested in acquiring some items or ensuring their cultural significance is not diminished and they're not 'broken apart.'
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