We Are Coming Home: Repatriation and the Restoration of Blackfoot Cultural Confidence ed. by Gerald T. Conaty (review)

I wish Gerry Conaty were still on this earth so that I could call him up to express my heart-felt congratulations for this not-to-be-missed book for anyone interested in museum collections, repatriation, Blackfoot culture, or Indian-white relations in North America. A book on the history of collecting, curating, and repatriating indigenous material culture could be dry and tedious. This is not. We Are Coming Home tells the history that led to the repatriation of 251 sacred and ceremonial objects to the three tribes of Blackfoot in Alberta, and the ramifications of this historic act of January 14, 2000, the day Alberta passed its First Nations Sacred Ceremonial Objects Repatriation Act (fnscora). Every chapter is well written, thoughtful, and engaging.

This edited volume articulates repatriation perspectives from a variety of experiences and viewpoints from the museum world and tribal communities by sharing their personal stories of this transformative process as each learned to listen to “the other.” Lives changed. Museum personnel came to accept and understand that ceremonial objects from their collections functioned differently in the context of their communities of origination; rather than items to be preserved for the future, they accepted that for the communities these are spiritually imbued relatives that needed to go home. The monetary value of these objects was set aside by museum representatives, understanding that commodification of these ceremonial objects was furthering impacts of colonization. These were difficult decisions, and Alberta remains the only Canadian province to have passed such legislation.

Readers become acquainted with historic factors that have negatively impacted tribal communities, including long-held biases of museum personnel and other anthropologists. A common fear in the museum world has been that repatriated items would be sold rather than integrated back into the community, reflecting a distrust of the tribal communities to take care of their own patrimony. Another concern was that once anything was repatriated, there would be “a run” on the museums, leaving collections bare. Neither concern has materialized. Readers learn how repatriation of bundles, pipes, and other ceremonial objects has revitalized culture, language use, and cultural confidence. Kainai elder Allan Pard sees a connection between the return of bundles to their community with initiatives in education, health care, child welfare, and their justice system.

My only criticism of this book is that the Montana Blackfeet, who participated in a number of bundle transfers from United States and Alberta museums, were not included. Despite the missed opportunity, the volume provides an insightful, firsthand history of this groundbreaking repatriation process. Read this book!