Swiss collector wants thousands of Indigenous artifacts returned to communities

WINNIPEG — A Swiss collector who has amassed thousands of Indigenous artifacts says he is eager to have his collection repatriated back to the communities it has come from.

Vincent Escriba has accumulated roughly 3,500 ceremonial and traditional items, including cradleboards, sacred pipes and firearms believed to be associated with the period of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

He previously housed the items in a museum he ran in Switzerland that closed last year after Escriba decided to retire.

Escriba estimates the whole collection is valued at $12 million to $14 million, and says it is not feasible to donate it.

A group of First Nations leaders and advocates in Manitoba are trying to raise the funds to purchase the entire collection, and is calling for federal, First Nations and tribal governments in Canada and the United States to intervene and help bring these artifacts back to North America.

Escriba says he is willing to work with any Indigenous groups who want to purchase the collection, because he doesn’t want the artifacts to be sold off separately.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2026.