‘It’s been a long time coming’: Human remains, artifacts returned to First Nation in northern Ontario [Video]

A First Nation in northern Ontario has reclaimed artifacts and centuries-old human remains from the Canadian Museum of History.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Brent Niganobe, chief of Mississauga First Nation, located along the north shore of Lake Huron.

Niganobe said they reclaimed six boxes of artifacts and two skulls — one of a child and another of an older adult — from the museum. The artifacts and human remains were originally dug up in the 1970s and 1980s from what is now a golf course run by the Town of Blind River.

Niganobe said that since the mid-1990s, his community was aware of the human remains and artifacts, which include items like a pipe and beads, and since then, past chiefs have tried to repatriate the artifacts.

“We’ve hit roadblocks,” he said.

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