Ancestral remains dug up from graves and stolen from a Vancouver Island aboriginal tribe more than a century ago are returning to their home community.
The remains were taken away by an archeologist who had visited B.C. at the end of the 19th century. The bones eventually made their way from B.C.'s Tseycum First Nation to the American Museum of Natural History in New York -- where they would likely have remained had it not been for a band researcher.
The expropriation of the bones had little to do with the preservation of history, Chief Vern Jacks told Canada AM. Instead, the journey of the remains began merely as a commercial transaction.
"In 1898 or 1899, this archeologist with no consultation, was digging up our ancestors and selling them for $5 a skull or maybe $8 or $10 for the whole body," Jacks said Friday.
Band members were determined that their ancestors would return home, so they contacted officials at the museum and began the process to repatriate the remains. This week, band officials went to New York, returning Friday morning.
Jacks' wife, Cora, was the first to learn that the remains had been stolen. She told The Associated Press she wanted to make sure the remains didn't stay in boxes and catalogued in a far-off museum.
"It's important they be able to come home and rest in peace," she said. "(The repatriation) gives the young people a sense of how to correct something."
The band is now preparing to hold ceremonies to welcome home their ancestors. Jacks, who is filming a documentary about the band's quest, says the remains provide an important connection to his people's past.
"Our ancestors, they are awake, and they are happy that they're coming home," Jacks said.
The tribe will continue to search for more remains, which may have been sent to a museum in Chicago.
With files from The Associated Press
