Museum of Scotland to Return Nisga’a Totem Pole Stolen Nearly a Hundred Years Ago

A Nisga’a totem pole initially carved in the 1800s is set to return home, after spending nearly 100 years across the Atlantic.

Originally carved and erected in the 1860s, the Ni’isjoohl Memorial Pole is a house pole which was stolen from the Nation in 1929.

It tells the tale of the warrior Ts’wawit, who was next in line to become Chief before being killed during a conflict with a neighbouring nation.

Sometime after being stolen by colonial ethnographer Marius Barbeau, the pole was sold to the National Museum of Scotland, where it remains to this day.

But, in August, a delegation featuring three Ni’isjoohl house members visited the Museum to discuss repatriation of the pole.

Now, the Museum’s Board of Trustees have voted to return the pole to where it truly belongs.