Museum Returns the Remains of a Canadian Tribe’s Forebears

After 100 Years, Tribe’s Ancestors Head Home


By CARA BUCKLEY
Published: June 10, 2008

A hushed group of people, nearly four dozen strong, slipped into the American Museum of Natural History early Monday, ahead of the crowds. Their cheeks were smeared with rust-colored dye, red and white woven bands encircled their heads, the men wore ceremonial vests and the women were wrapped in shawls, fringed with red.
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Chief Vern Jacks, second from left, and his wife, Cora, at the American Museum of Natural History to accept the remains of tribe members.
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James Estrin/The New York Times

“Our Journey Home” took Chief Vern Jacks and his wife, Cora, to the American Museum of Natural History on Monday.

They were at the end of a roughly 3,000-mile journey that has, in its way, taken years. Unlike the thousands of fidgety schoolchildren and harried parents that filled the museum’s halls to view its storied exhibits on Monday, these 46 visitors were there for an altogether different purpose: to take their ancestors home.

READ FULL ARTICLE @ [NYTimes.com]