Nisga'a arftifacts to be returned today

Close to 300 Nisga'a cultural artifacts will be returned to the Nisga'a Nation today at a ceremony in Greenville, items that have been repatriated from the Museum of Civilizaation in Gatineau, Quebec and from the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria.

The transfer marks the first time that the Nisga'a have repatriated their items under the terms of the Nisga'a Final Agreement, a process they have been working on with both museums for a number of years now.

Many of the times being returned today are from the collection of Charles Newcombe, a British ethnologist who visited First Nation's villages in  British Columbia in the early 1900's.

Included in the items returned today are rattles, whistles, charms and carved amulets.

Much of his collection has been scattered among museums around the world, but in the case of these 300 artifacts the road has gone full circle now with their return.

The Victoria Times Colonist , CBC  and CJFW offer up some of the details of today's special ceremony.

Update: There was a live webcast of the ceremonies posted to the UStream website on Wednesday afternoon.

The Globe and Mail published a review of the events of Wednesday to their website on September 16.