The Value of repatriation. A biography of totem pole G’psgolox’s repatriation from Sweden to Canada. (Engelska)

The study is an archaeological biography of the G'psgolox totem pole told from the Haisla people's perspective in Canada and adopts cultural relativism and the theory of ontology to highlight their experience and perspective on the repatriation process of the G'psgolox totem pole. The research has been limited to studying the totem pole only based on an emic perceptive, the Haisla people, and departures from secondary sources consisting of films, Haisla organizations websites, and literature where they shared their experiences. For the Haisla people, the G'psgolox totem pole is not like all other totem poles erected during their traditional potlatch ceremonies. This pole was created when Hailsa culture, society, traditions, beliefs, and identity were dying out due to, among other things, the European colonization and the consequences that it brought with it, such as "The Indian Act" in Canada. This act aimed to eradicate the country's indigenous cultures and inculcate the "white way," which turned into a mass extinction threat to different First Nations in Canada, such as the Haisla people. Therefore, since its creation, the G'psgolox totem pole has immeasurable value for Haisla's people since it symbolizes survival, strengthening of Haisla's culture and identity after almost disappearing. However, the pole was taken without consent ending in Sweden, which affected Haisla society and led to a series of international events, where the Haisla people strived to repatriate the G'psgolox totem pole to its origins. Previous studies of the repatriation process have, with some exceptions, mainly adopted the Western perspective, giving only the Western reality of the events, distorting the arguments in the repatriation debate to its advantages. The study shows that Haisla has a holistic perspective on their surroundings where everything is integrated, connected, and influences each other through time and space, including tangible and intangible material and across the living and spiritual world, which differs from the Western perspective, and more when it comes to the understanding of the value of cultural heritage. Therefore, through the repatriation process, the Western beliefs clash against Haisla's reality and value over their cultural heritage. Although this, the Western way tended to dominate the whole repatriation before, during, and after the process, minimizing, in this case, the Haisla peoples perspective and the cultural value that the G'psgolox totem pole could bring to them