Members of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations Whalers’ Shrine Repatriation Committee travelled to New York recently in an effort to try to bring back one of the world’s most sacred structures.

Committee members went to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to formally meet with the museum’s Cultural Resources Office.

The representatives from the First Nations in British Columbia are keen to bring the Whalers’ Shrine back home to Yuquot, a village in Nootka Island, on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island.

The shrine was where Nuu-chah-nulth whalers prayed and practiced ritual oosemich (bathing) to prepare for the physical and spiritual challenges they faced when hunting.

There are 88 carved human figures, four carved whale figures and 16 human skulls in the shrine.

Led by hereditary Chief Mike Maquinna, Chief Jerry Jack, and Elder Margaretta James, committee members discussed the next steps to complete the process required for repatriation.

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