Museums Victoria will repatriate 6 highly significant cultural items back to their Indigenous community in Canada with the assistance of the Australian Government.

clockwise from top left: smoking pipe, ornate cloak, pouch, leggings, broach, moccasins
(clockwise from top left: smoking pipe, ornate cloak, pouch, leggings, broach, moccasins)

Six culturally significant objects including an ornate coat, smoking pipe, moccasins, pouch, leggings and a brooch have been returned to the Canadian Mi’kmaq community in a special ceremony in Melbourne. The objects, which are in impeccable condition, were brought to Australia in the mid 19th Century by artist Samuel Douglass Smith Huyghue.

The Canadian-born Huyghue brought the objects to Australia where they remained in his private collection before being donated to Museums Victoria in 1879.

The Millbrook and Cultural Heritage Centre in Nova Scotia sent a repatriation request to Museums Victoria which, after years of negotiations to ensure the pieces could travel and be safely housed, was granted.

A permanent export permit was required under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act. This was granted, enabling the return and repatriation of the Mi’kmaq objects to their rightful owners.

Heather Stevens, the Manager of the Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre, who began the repatriation proceedings, travelled to Melbourne to oversee the handover and ensure the objects’ safe return home.

More information about the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act can be found here.