The Association for Public Art (aPA) will return a Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw First Nation house post—acquired by the organization in 1978—to its ancestral territory in British Columbia.
Before the carving begins its journey home, the Na̱ʼwiti House Post will be publicly exhibited at Atelier Gallery in Philadelphia from April 25 through May 31, 2026, as part of the exhibition Homecoming: The Journey of a Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw Na̱ʼwiti House Post. The exhibition will explore the artwork’s history and cultural significance. Gallery hours are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 2–6 p.m. An opening reception will be held Friday, April 24, at 6 p.m.
Public programming will include a panel discussion on the repatriation of cultural items to Indigenous peoples, scheduled for Saturday, May 9, at 1 p.m. The exhibition and all related events are free and open to the public.
Repatriation of cultural belongings has gained increased global attention in recent decades. In the United States, the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) established federal protections and procedures for returning Native American human remains and sacred or culturally significant objects held by federally funded institutions.
In recent years, museums and institutions worldwide have returned cultural items to their communities of origin, including Khmer antiquities repatriated from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Cambodia, Indigenous ceremonial items returned by the Vatican to Canadian First Nations leaders, and Benin Bronzes returned by the Smithsonian Institution to Nigeria.
Many of these objects were originally looted, taken during colonial expansion, or acquired through unethical means. Others, including aPA’s Na̱ʼwiti House Post, entered museum or private collections with little documentation about how they were removed from their ancestral communities.
The return of the house post is being carried out in partnership with the U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, British Columbia, whose mission is to preserve and ensure the survival of Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw cultural heritage. Following the exhibition, the Na̱ʼwiti House Post will be transported to British Columbia and placed in the U’mista Cultural Centre’s cultural heritage collection.
“The return of this house post to Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw territory brings back more than wood—it carries ancestors’ lineage, ceremonial voice, and the laws meant for our big houses, not museums,” said Juanita Johnston, executive director of the U’mista Cultural Centre. “Repatriation restores what was broken: our stories, knowledge, and way of life. Each belonging returned helps to rebuild our spirit, governance, and future. It is healing and justice—our belongings returning home to support our people.”
The Na̱ʼwiti House Post was carved by a Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw artist in British Columbia around 1850. Carved from western red cedar and standing approximately 12 feet, 6 inches tall, the roughly 1,000-pound post represents a form of carving unique to the First Nations peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
Originally, the post was part of a pair used inside a community house to help support the roof. Its companion house post is now held in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Cedar pole carving remains a living artistic tradition among the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, passed down through generations and serving as a powerful visual record of cultural heritage.
