Key advocates include Woodhouse Nepinak and youth representatives Katisha Paul and Peyal Laceese, who view the effort as revitalizing cultural practices and storytelling.

Indigenous leaders emphasize the kayak’s significance and the broader goal of reintroducing traditional crafts to communities.

Dwayne Smitt of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation questions whether the kayak could have been a gift, highlighting debates over how the artifact was acquired.

Indigenous groups sought Pope Francis’s apology to accompany restitution, building on past Vatican actions and apologies that helped unlock the process.

Manitoba Métis Federation was excluded from the process and aims to pursue the return of a sole Métis item to the Red River Métis, seeking broader inclusion in future repatriations.

Questions remain about how the kayak arrived in the Vatican in the 1920s, with debates over whether it was gifted or seized during missionary activity, framed within reconciliation efforts.

The Inuvialuit kayak, a century-old light, fast hunting boat used for beluga and whale hunts in the Mackenzie Delta, is central to the repatriation negotiations led by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and Indigenous groups.

Indigenous leaders and organizations are repatriating 61 Indigenous artifacts, including an Inuvialuit kayak from Kitigaaryuit, from the Vatican Museums to Canada as part of a broader reconciliation with the legacy of church-run residential schools.

The items will travel from Rome to Montreal via a route that includes a trip to Frankfurt and a flight donated by Air Canada; the kayak will be kept at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau due to regional preservation constraints.

There has been controversy and criticisms from the Assembly of First Nations and Métis leaders about participation and control in the repatriation process.

Delegates previously viewed items in Rome and left with renewed resolve to retrieve them for Indigenous communities, including an embroidered glove, a kayak, and a baby carrier sling.

The repatriation follows long-standing calls by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, including engagement with Pope Francis in 2022 and alignment with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action on museums and archives.