In the early 1920s, Pope Pius XI sent a call to Catholic missions around the world to donate items, including indigenous cultural property, to a 1925 Vatican Mission Exhibition. “Basically, they were looking for anything and everything related to missionary life and indigenous life during this time,” said Gloria Bell, an assistant professor of art history at McGill University and a fellow of the Terra Foundation at the American Academy in Rome. Her research is funded by the Research Council for the Social and Humanities of Canada and the Fonds de recherche du Québec. Universal missions sent about 100,000 artifacts to the Vatican. Most of these items became part of the Vatican’s permanent collection. This collection includes a human face mask by Haida Gwaii, a rare kayak from the Inuvialuit in the West Arctic, a pair of beaded leather moccasins, birch bark engraving and a model ivory and seal dog sled. Gloria Bell, an assistant professor of art history at McGill University, has been researching the Vatican’s collection of Indigenous cultural objects and works of art for nearly a decade. (Gloria Bell / Provided)
The Vatican claims the items were sent as gifts to the Pope. Bell’s research suggests the allegation reveals a controversial story of Indigenous people working under pressure to create these objects – along with evidence that some of these cultural objects may have been stolen from communities. “My research raises this question,” said Bell, who hails from Métis on her mother’s side.

“Stolen shelves”

Bell said it studied catalog files describing cultural artifacts taken during the potlatch ban from 1885 to 1951, when it was a criminal offense to attend traditional gift festivities used by the First Nations on the West Coast to mark community landmarks. “These were confiscated by missionaries during the potlatch ban, so they are definitely stolen shelves and cultural objects,” Bell said. He said he had found copies of missionary bulletins, such as the Indian Sentinel, indicating that schoolchildren in the United States had made memorabilia for the 1925 Vatican Exhibition. Duane Smith, president and CEO of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, wants the Roman Catholic Church and the federal government to pay for the repatriation of a rare kayak now owned by the Vatican. (Mackenzie Scott / CBC)
“It would not be unusual for this to happen and there is evidence that they did send items,” Bell said. “It’s an ongoing research question, I think there is a possibility [materials from residential schools] he was also from Canada. “ Bell said she read newspaper clippings and a papal call to the missionaries who were discussing sending the natives to participate in the exhibition, but found nothing to confirm that it actually happened. “There is this colonial heritage of human appearance and the colonial heritage of living zoos that continued into the early 20th century,” he said.

Appeal for repatriation

Few people have actually seen the Vatican collecting indigenous items from Canada. Most of it is in storage. But the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has arranged for a group of First Nations, Métis and Inuit representatives – who are meeting with the Pope this week at the Vatican – to see some of the artifacts on Tuesday during private tours of the Vatican Museums. Cassidy Caron, chairwoman of the Métis National Council, said she did not know of Métis’s belongings at the Vatican, but was looking forward to learning what was on display at the Anima Mundi exhibition at the Vatican Ethnological Museum, which contains items from the 1925 exhibition. “I will definitely look for our artifacts and anything that belongs in the house with us and in our communities,” Caron said. The Vatican has tens of thousands of native artifacts from countries around the world, including Canada. (Gloria Bell / Provided)
CBC News was invited by the Vatican Museum to see some of the Indigenous artifacts last December, when representatives of the First Nation, the Inuit and the Métis were originally scheduled to meet with Pope Francis. However, as the visit was postponed due to a global Omicron epidemic, the museum did not respond to repeated requests from the CBC for access and interviews. Duane Smith, president and CEO of Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, is trying to repatriate the kayak from the Vatican. It is said to be one of five of its kind in the world. “I hope and expected that, as part of reconciliation, not only the church but also the federal government will work with us as a precaution,” he said. Smith said he wants the church and Ottawa to pay to bring the kayak home. He said the community plans to exhibit it and use it in workshops to teach young people how to build it. “We hope that once the Inuit representation gets there, they will be able to move things forward so that they can come back with some good news,” he said.

Colonial narratives in the Vatican

Bell said she hopes the church will advise indigenous communities on the ethics of the cultural exhibit, return its belongings and digitize the Vatican archives so that community members can find out what else the church has in its vaults. of. Bell, who grew up in Ontario, said she was fascinated by the collection of indigenous Vatican artifacts after finding guide books from the 1920s for the exhibition. “It’s kind of like a forgotten chapter, I guess, of Vatican history and religious history in the early 20th century,” Bell said. After nearly a decade of research, Bell wrote a book about her findings and experiences while working on the Rome Archives, including the Propaganda Fide Historical Archives, the Vatican Apostolic Archive (formerly known as the “Secret Archives”) and others. religious archives in Italy. Canada and the United States. Part of the book focuses on how the 1925 report silenced the voices of the indigenous peoples themselves. “It was really about the glory of the Catholic Church and then about covering up this history of seizures and missionary violence at this time,” Bell said. A guest admires a Raphael room inside the Vatican Museums on May 3, 2021. (Alessandra Tarantino / AP)
He said that these colonial narratives still exist in the Vatican and the use by the church of the terms “crafts” and “objects” is problematic. “These are the words the Vatican uses to cover its colonial history,” he said. “There is no talk of indigenous artists or communities and it is very problematic.” Her book is currently under contract with the University of Washington Press and is expected to be published within the next two years. “It was … really moving to work on this work, but also rewarding when I find examples of indigenous artists and activists found in this exhibition,” Bell said. “I hope this project will inspire more research… and make it more accessible for indigenous communities, artists and activists to know this unknown story.”