McGill and McCord partner with Indigenous groups to rebury ancestral remains in Kahnawà:ke
On Nov. 1, 2026, McGill, the McCord Stewart Museum and Indigenous partners on the Task Force on Rematriation, Repatriation and Restitution held a reburial ceremony in Kahnawà:ke for bone fragments dated to the 15th–16th centuries that were unearthed in 1859 near McGill’s campus.
At a ceremony on Nov. 1, 2026, representatives from McGill, the McCord Stewart Museum and Indigenous partners on the Task Force on Rematriation, Repatriation and Restitution returned bone fragments to the ground in Kahnawà:ke. The fragments, believed to date from the 15th–16th centuries and originally found in 1859 south of McGill’s downtown campus, were handled and reinterred following Indigenous cultural protocols developed with community guidance. The initiative reflects institutional collaboration aimed at restoring ancestors to their communities and strengthening campus–Indigenous relationships.
Read the original story · McGill University — https://reporter.mcgill.ca/task-force-on-rematriation-repatriation-and-restitution-oversees-reburial-of-ancestral-remains/