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Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Sacred ribstones return to Siksika Nation after more than a century in an Ottawa museum
After being held in a museum in Ottawa for more than a century, two sacred cultural artifacts recently returned to Siksika Nation. Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park (BCHP), a museum on the Siksika First Nation, celebrated the repatriation of a pair of sacred ribstones, which hold deep significance to the Blackfoot people. The stones were used for meditation and prayer by previous generations, explained the historical park's CEO Shannon Bear Chief. The ribstones' return marked a homecoming of great spiritual and cultural importance, Bear Chief said. WATCH | Sacred ribstones returned to First Nation: "Just like everything else — language, culture — that was stripped from the Blackfoot people, [removing the ribstones] was also just another act to remove the meditation and the prayer," said Bear Chief. "Bringing home our objects is also a significant historical event because our spirits are coming home. And then we'll become whole as a Siksika Nation." The ribstones, which are centuries old, were originally removed from Blackfoot territory in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Earlier this year, a Blackfoot delegation travelled to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa to identify the items and confirm that they belonged to the Siksika people, and to ensure their return. The repatriation was marked on Friday with traditional ceremony, storytelling, performances from local artists and community gathering at the BCHP's outdoor amphitheatre. BCHP board of directors chair Strater Crowfoot said in previous generations, people would go to the ribstones, make offerings and wait for buffalo to arrive. He said their return is significant as a way to establish a connection between current and future Blackfoot generations, and their ancestors. "We can tell our future generations what they were used for, and how they were helpful [to] maintain our life and exist on the prairies by being able to hunt the buffalo and live off the buffalo and live off the land," said Crowfoot. "For us to bring these home and recount the significance of them to our people and to our future, it's important that we have them here to be able to tell that story." Martin Heavy Head, a Kainai Nation elder who was part of the group that travelled to Ottawa to identify where the stones came from, notes the ribstones are just two of many items that were taken from the Blackfoot people or destroyed. He underlined the significance of continuing efforts to return artifacts like the ribstone to their origin. "Repatriation is a lot of things. It's not just repatriating objects, it's also repatriating knowledge, territory. It's repatriating our lives that have been taken away," Heavy Head said. The stones were returned as part of an ongoing program focused on preserving, reclaiming and sharing sacred Blackfoot artifacts. The Blackfoot First Nations Sacred Ceremonial Objects Repatriation Regulation was introduced in 2023, which set out a process to repatriate sacred ceremonial objects to the Siksika Nation, Blood Tribe and Piikani Nation. Several other important artifacts have been repatriated through this process in recent years. A different sacred rock was returned to Siksika Nation in 2023 to be displayed at BCHP, after it sat in a farmer's field in central Alberta since the early 1900s. And a year earlier, the regalia of a former Blackfoot chief was returned from the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter, England. Crowfoot said they're looking at repatriating more items from museums around North America and Europe.
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
Sacred ribstones return to Siksika Nation after more than a century in an Ottawa museum
Social Sharing After being held in a museum in Ottawa for more than a century, two sacred cultural artifacts recently returned to Siksika Nation. Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park (BCHP), a museum on the Siksika First Nation, celebrated the repatriation of a pair of sacred ribstones, which hold deep significance to the Blackfoot people. The stones were used for meditation and prayer by previous generations, explained the historical park's CEO Shannon Bear Chief. The ribstones' return marked a homecoming of great spiritual and cultural importance, Bear Chief said. Sacred ribstones return to Siksika Nation from national museum after more than a century 5 hours ago Duration 2:22 "Just like everything else — language, culture — that was stripped from the Blackfoot people, [removing the ribstones] was also just another act to remove the meditation and the prayer," said Bear Chief. "Bringing home our objects is also a significant historical event because our spirits are coming home. And then we'll become whole as a Siksika Nation." The ribstones, which are centuries old, were originally removed from Blackfoot territory in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Earlier this year, a Blackfoot delegation travelled to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa to identify the items and confirm that they belonged to the Siksika people, and to ensure their return. The repatriation was marked on Friday with traditional ceremony, storytelling, performances from local artists and community gathering at the BCHP's outdoor amphitheatre. BCHP board of directors chair Strater Crowfoot said in previous generations, people would go to the ribstones, make offerings and wait for buffalo to arrive. He said their return is significant as a way to establish a connection between current and future Blackfoot generations, and their ancestors. "We can tell our future generations what they were used for, and how they were helpful [to] maintain our life and exist on the prairies by being able to hunt the buffalo and live off the buffalo and live off the land," said Crowfoot. "For us to bring these home and recount the significance of them to our people and to our future, it's important that we have them here to be able to tell that story." Martin Heavy Head, a Kainai Nation elder who was part of the group that travelled to Ottawa to identify where the stones came from, notes the ribstones are just two of many items that were taken from the Blackfoot people or destroyed. He underlined the significance of continuing efforts to return artifacts like the ribstone to their origin. "Repatriation is a lot of things. It's not just repatriating objects, it's also repatriating knowledge, territory. It's repatriating our lives that have been taken away," Heavy Head said. The stones were returned as part of an ongoing program focused on preserving, reclaiming and sharing sacred Blackfoot artifacts. The Blackfoot First Nations Sacred Ceremonial Objects Repatriation Regulation was introduced in 2023, which set out a process to repatriate sacred ceremonial objects to the Siksika Nation, Blood Tribe and Piikani Nation. Several other important artifacts have been repatriated through this process in recent years. A different sacred rock was returned to Siksika Nation in 2023 to be displayed at BCHP, after it sat in a farmer's field in central Alberta since the early 1900s. And a year earlier, the regalia of a former Blackfoot chief was returned from the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter, England. Crowfoot said they're looking at repatriating more items from museums around North America and Europe.
Calgary Herald
3 days ago
- General
- Calgary Herald
Sacred Siksika ribstones are back in Alberta from Canadian Museum of History
Article content An important ceremonial object was handed over to the Siksika First Nation on Friday in what the Indigenous community calls a 'profound act of justice and reconciliation.' Article content The items returned to the community were Ribstone artifacts, which had been held in the Canadian Museum of History for over 100 years. Article content Article content Ribstones are skeletal objects of the bison, which is venerated in Indigenous cultures as a staff of life, a source of abundance, and as entities creating balance in the natural world. Article content Article content The repatriation of these objects was overseen by the Soyohpawahko Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, which ensured the safe return of the artifacts to Indigenous land. The event was punctuated by presentations, a traditional ceremony and various cultural performances. Article content Article content 'The return of the Siksika Nation Ribstone marks the restoration of a sacred artifact—etched with ancestral prayers—to its rightful place,' said Shannon Bear Chief, general manager of the historical park. Article content 'This is more than repatriation; it is the reclamation of identity, sovereignty, and spiritual strength.' Article content Objects such as ribstones were usually placed in locations of symbolic importance to the community, and many would visit the sites to offer prayers and conduct ceremonies. Article content Access to these places was severed after Indigenous communities were confined to their reserves in the late 19th century, said Jack Ives, anthropology professor at the University of Alberta, who is a former provincial archaeologist behind the push to repatriate ceremonial objects to Indigenous bodies. Article content Their culture was further assailed by the advent of residential schools and policies such as the Sixties Scoop, which drove Indigenous people away from their traditional practices.
