Canadian Blood Tribe's Museum Mission

Left: the head-dress is wrapped up and carefully held by a member of the Blood Tribe.










Image © University of Aberdeen.

A group of Native Americans flew from Canada to Scotland this week on a very special mission. Members of the Blood Tribe went to the Marischal Museum in Aberdeen to collect a sacred head-dress and take it back to the rest of the tribe in Canada.

A sacred object is something very important and special to a group of people, usually because it is linked to their religion. For instance the Bible would be sacred to a Christian and the Koran would be sacred to a Muslim.

Right: happy smiles all round in Aberdeen.



Image © University of Aberdeen.

The horned head-dress, decorated with eagle feathers, has been at the Marischal Museum since the 1930s. A woman from Aberdeen bought it in North America in the 1920s and then donated it to the museum.

The museum has taken care of the head-dress ever since, but didn't realise until recently how much it meant to the Blood Tribe. The museum's curator said
"It was clear that the head-dress was extremely important to them. They compared it to one of the books of the Bible being missing."

Left: a museum staff member hands over the precious bundle.

Image © University of Aberdeen.

We can't show you a photo of the head-dress as it is very important to the Blood Tribe people that it is not photographed. It was wrapped up during the ceremony and will be treasured along with three similar head-dresses back in Canada.

Many museums in Britain have objects on display or in storerooms that are sacred or special to people from other countries and cultures. This is often because explorers and collectors from many years ago used to buy or take items they found on their travels as souvenirs. The items would then end up in museums.

Right: the handover of the head-dress was a special occasion for everyone.

Image © University of Aberdeen.

Politicians, tribal leaders, scientists and museum staff all over the world have been talking and arguing about this subject for years. Many objects have already been returned to their original homes, many others haven't.

For example there are many thousands of bones belonging to aboriginal Australians in museums in the UK and the USA. Aboriginal people want the bones back, but many scientists and museum staff would like to keep them in museums.

Left: just a small part of the Elgin Marbles on display at The British Museum.






Image © The British Museum.

Another example is the Elgin Marbles, a group of marble sculptures from a building called the Parthenon in Athens in Greece.

They have been in The British Museum in London for almost two hundred years. The Greek government has been asking for the marbles to be returned to Greece for years but the British government claim they belong here.

The Guardian newspaper has an online guide to the Elgin Marbles. It is written for grown-ups but has beautiful pictures to look at. Click here to see the guide.

What do you think?

Next time you go to a museum, have a think about the objects you are looking at and how other people might see them. All objects have stories, and some of those stories can be very complicated!

With thanks to the Northscot Press Agency for the headline images.