Nisga’a Memorial Pole to Return Home from Scotland this September

After one year of discussion and collaboration, a stolen Nisga’a house memorial pole will be returning home.

Last year, a delegation from the house of Ni’isjoohl, visited the National Museum of Scotland to discuss the return of the pole.

Now, a delegation will return to Scotland to start the rematriation process, a term which reframes repatriation to follow the Nisga’a matrilineal society.

A closed spiritual ceremony will be held in Scotland on Aug. 28 to prepare the pole for its journey home.

Upon the pole’s arrival in September, it will be housed at the Nisga’a Museum.

A public welcoming ceremony will then be held on Sept. 29, with a feast to follow, and the pole will then be raised for observation in October.

Belonging to the house of Ni’isjoohl, the pole was commissioned to tell the story of the warrior Ts’awit, who died protecting his family and nation.

However, it was stolen in 1929 during the potlach ban and sold to the museum, the delegation who visited the pole last year, was the first in the nation to see the pole.

This rematriation marks the first of its kind by a U.K. institution.