Handover event took place last month after research identified sacred ceremonial item

The Royal Albert Memorial Museum (Ramm) in Exeter has repatriated a sacred ceremonial headdress to the Siksika Nation in Canada.

The Buffalo Woman’s Headdress, crafted with buffalo horns, sacred bird feathers, porcupine quills, and adorned with red cloth and brass bells, was returned to delegates from the Siksika Nation in a handover ceremony at the museum on 5 June.

The artefact had been in the museum’s collection since 1920, when it was donated by Edgar Dewdney, a lieutenant governor of Canada's Northwest Territories. The exact means of its acquisition is undocumented, but the headdress is believed to have been acquired through the enforcement of colonial assimilation policy in Canadian legislation.

The headdress was identified as a sacred ceremonial item following detailed research by delegates from Siksika Nation in collaboration with Kainai and Blackfeet Nations. The item was once worn by holy women of the Blackfoot Holy Buffalo Woman Society, who were known as the Motokiks. It will be returned to traditional use.

The process to return the artefact began in 2022, when Ramm received a formal letter from the Blackfoot (Siksika) requesting an act of repatriation.

The Siksika Nation representatives attending the ceremony included Councillor Strater Crowfoot, Councillor Marsha Wolf Collar, Kent Ayoungman, Herman Yellow Old Woman and Joset Melting Tallow.

“The ceremonial Buffalo Woman’s Headdress holds immense sacred significance to the Blackfoot people,” said Joset Melting Tallow.

“Its return to Siksika Nation symbolises not only the preservation of our cultural heritage, but also the recognition of our history and traditions, and is a profound testament to our ancestors’ spiritual and cultural practices.

“We are grateful to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum for their commitment to honouring and respecting the sacredness of this headdress by facilitating its repatriation.”

Ramm’s collections and content manager, Julien Parsons, said: “It was a moving experience for all of us lucky enough to be present. The elders performed a short ceremony and then painstakingly bundled and wrapped the headdress in coloured cloth. It will travel like this back to Canada where it will return to its sacred use by the Siksika people.”

Sharon Heal, the director of the Museums Association, commended the museum on its approach to repatriation. She said: “Ramm has taken a sensitive and long-term approach in order to return these items, which is a great example for other museums.

“We welcome the fact that we are seeing more and more museums working ethically and proactively to better understanding the provenance of their collections and to work with communities of origin in a thoughtful and respectful way.”

Ramm has a longstanding partnership with the Siksika Nation, which previously led to the repatriation of regalia belonging to the 19^th-century Indigenous leader, Chief Crowfoot, in 2022.

With a population of more than 8,000, the Siksika Nation is part of the Siksikai’tsitapi – Blackfoot Confederacy, which covers a territory spanning present-day Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana.

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