PANEL - Returning Home Across Borders: Indigenous Repatriation and International Collaboration

Repatriation is increasingly an international responsibility requiring respectful collaboration between institutions, governments, and Indigenous communities. This panel brings together museum leaders and Indigenous voices to explore how global solutions are reshaping museum practice and ethics.

Using the Vatican–Canada return as a starting point, panelists will explore cross-border challenges, ethical considerations, and emerging models of shared stewardship.

Learning Outcomes

• Explore cross-border challenges and solutions

• Discover pathways to respectful relationships

Relevance

• Positions repatriation as an international movement grounded in Indigenous sovereignty, with museums acting as partners in cultural restoration.

Moderator

Jennifer David, Senior Consultant and Lead, Truth & Reconciliation, NVision Insight Group (Ottawa, Canada)

Jennifer David (Chapleau Cree First Nation) has worked in Indigenous communications and consulting for more than 25 years. Born and raised in Omushkego (Treaty 9) territory, she holds degrees in Journalism and English literature from Carleton University. Formerly Director of Communications at APTN, she is now Senior Consultant and Lead of the Truth & Reconciliation service basket at NVision Insight Group, an Indigenous consulting company. She leads NVision's seminal T&R learning opportunities, and is a published author, TedX speaker, and King Charles III Coronation Medal recipient. Jennifer serves on the APTN board and recently wrote a book about Chapleau Cree First Nation.

Panelists

Caroline Dromaguet, President and CEO, Canadian Museum of History (Ottawa, Canada)

Caroline Dromaguet is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum. A seasoned museum professional, Caroline has over 20 years of experience in numerous aspects of museum work, including museum management, the development and delivery of cultural products, international partnerships and initiatives that strategically position Canada’s rich and fascinating history on the world stage. She is committed to fostering collaboration, innovative thinking and leadership among members of Canada’s museum community.

Since initially joining the Museums in 1998, Caroline has held a number of key leadership positions in diverse areas of both Museums, including as Manager of Exhibitions and Strategic Initiatives, and Director of Exhibitions, Creative Development and Learning, and Interim Director General of the Canadian War Museum. Caroline was Interim President and CEO of the Museums for a two-year period prior to her confirmation in the position in December 2022. In her role as CEO, she emphasizes the importance of innovation, Indigenous rights, engagement and technology, as well as developing a healthy, diverse, inclusive and empowering work environment for employees of the Museums she oversees.

Elina Anttila, Director General, National Museum of Finland (Helsinki, Finland)

Elina Anttila, PhD, Director General of the National Museum of Finland, has a long career in the Finnish museum industry. Originally an art historian, she has worked in the Finnish Heritage Agency in various positions, such as curator, researcher, Head of the Museum Development Department, and Vice Director General of the Finnish Heritage Agency. In her current position as Director General of the National Museum of Finland since 2014, Anttila is responsible for the operation, exhibitions, and programmes of ten state museums and castles in Finland, as well as the management and preservation of the national collections of cultural history, consisting of Finnish historical and ethnological collections, as well as world cultures. Anttila has actively promoted cultural diversity and dialogue as a key component of Finnish society and culture, and ownership of cultural heritage as an essential prerequisite of resilience. She has taken the lead in the return of the state Sámi collection to the Finnish Sámi community and has accomplished international repatriation projects. Anttila is currently Vice Chair of the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO.

Natan Obed, President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Ottawa, Canada)

Natan Obed is the President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. He was first elected in 2015 and was acclaimed to his third consecutive term in 2021. Natan grew up in Nain, the northernmost community of Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador). He graduated from Tufts University in 2001.

President Obed is the national spokesperson for Inuit in Canada and also serves as Vice-President of Inuit Circumpolar Council-Canada. As ITK President, he implements the direction set out by Inuit Leadership from the four regions of Inuit Nunangat — the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut.

Elder Claudette Commanda, Anishinaabeg, Kitigan Zibi (Ottawa, Canada)

Elder Claudette Commanda is an Algonquin Anishinabe from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation located in the province of Quebec. An alumni of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law and Faculty of Arts, Claudette has dedicated the last 35 years to promoting First Nations people, history, culture and rights.

She is a professor at the University of Ottawa and the Chief Executive Officer of the First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres, a national organization which protects and promotes First Nations culture, languages and traditional knowledge. She was inducted into the Common Law Honour Society; served two terms on the Board of Governors for the First Nations University of Canada; and three terms on the Kitigan Zibi band council.

In 2017, Claudette was the first First Nation appointed Elder in Residence for the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa and the first person of a First Nation heritage to be appointed to the Board of Governors for the University of Ottawa. Claudette is a proud mother of four, a grandmother to ten beautiful grandchildren, and recently a great grandmother. In March 2020, Claudette received the 2020 INDSPIRE Award for Culture, Heritage and Spirituality. In November 2022, she was appointed Chancellor for the University of Ottawa. She is the first Indigenous person to be appointed Chancellor of the university. On September 20, 2024, she received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for her advocacy of First Nation people, rights and languages nationally and internationally.