The Field Museum of Chicago has successfully completed the repatriation of two towering 19th-century Kwakwaka’wakw ancestral totems and dozens of ceremonial masks to the U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, British Columbia. The items, which were acquired under coercive circumstances during the era of the 'potlatch ban,' have been part of the museum's Pacific Northwest collection for over a century.
Community leaders and museum officials celebrated the return with a private ceremony, emphasizing the importance of cultural healing and the restoration of ancestral connections for the Kwakwaka’wakw people. The return is part of a broader policy shift at the Field Museum to prioritize the restitution of sacred and funerary items to Indigenous nations. These artifacts will now be used by the community for education and traditional ceremonies.