These ancient Indigenous artifacts are finally home

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]This bow, he told me it was a crossbow.

[00:00:04]I knew that they had to come back here.

[00:00:07]So, for the past past 15 years, I've been trying to finish this book, thinking that everything will come back at once.

[00:00:16]And today was the day.

[00:00:18]Andrew Bear Nicholas came to our community with artifacts that were repatriated and bringing them back to our community, bringing these stories to life, highlighting a important part of our history, our stories, and breathing life into a really deep part of our history that that has been uncovered and reclaimed. And yeah, it's it's it's exciting for for us as a as not just a community, but as Wulustuk Nation, I think it's very excellent that we've had this opportunity in collaboration with with Andra and decades of her work that she's devoted to to our communities and and to our to our elders, to our ancestors in telling these stories. To us, they're priceless. Um things, especially when we know who made them.

[00:01:03]I mean, it's like getting a piece of of your family back.

[00:01:07]It's yeah, it's really, really important. And of course, the items that are ancient, like like for instance, the gouge there, it's probably six at least six or 7,000 years old. I mean, that's just it's incredible to actually know that. And it's and it's now back in your possession rather than glass in a museum.

[00:01:31]Well, it's really important because it tells us a story of where we come from.

[00:01:35]In our language, we say Wotobeksoltiyeg, and that means our common roots or our common ancestors. So, that that ties us to who we are as Wulustuk way people and reignites a connection back to where we come from in the past, but brings it to the present.