June 25, 2025 – Williams Lake, BC

Tŝilhqot’in Nation Opens Nexwenen Nataghelʔilh Museum Exhibition in Vancouver

The Tŝilhqot’in National Government announces the opening of Nexwenen Nataghelʔilh—a collaborative exhibition that opened on June 20, 2025 at the Museum of Vancouver (MOV)—that celebrates the Tŝilhqot’in Nation’s first major museum repatriation.

Developed in close collaboration with MOV as part of a broader exhibition, The Work of Repair: Redress and Repatriation at the Museum of Vancouver, Nexwenen Nataghelʔilh invites visitors to witness museum repatriation in action, following the return of over sixty Tŝilhqot’in ancestral belongings from MOV in February 2024. This collection included many of the ancestors’ qatŝ’ay (coiled spruce root baskets), tŝi-bis (obsidian) stone tools, and a variety of other cultural objects which were held in museums or private collections for over a century, largely out of public view.

The exhibition features a looping documentary film about the repatriation, historical and contemporary photographs, a display of other objects actively in the repatriation process, and a collection of several contemporary forms of Tŝilhqot’in artistry and craftsmanship. The title, Nexwenen Nataghelʔilh, translates from Tŝilhqot’in to English as, ‘we bring them (our ancestors) home to our land.’—reflecting on the understanding that these are not artifacts but living embodiments of the ancestors themselves.

The Tŝilhqot’in National Government is grateful for the Museum of Vancouver—and especially Dr. Sharon Fortney, Senior Curator of Indigenous Collections—for their leadership and respectful, proactive approach to this important work. The exhibition will remain on display for approximately one year before traveling to other locations across British Columbia and beyond.