"It was a wonderful occasion," said the National Museum of Scotland curator John Giblin after witnessing the spiritual ceremony to begin the pole's 4,200-mile journey.
"It was very emotional," said Dr Amy Parent of the University of British Columbia, who has led moves to return what she regards as a stolen object. "As soon as we go near the pole we can feel this energy," she added.
"We know that we will soon have our hearts at peace." The House of Ni'isjoohl memorial pole is being returned to the Nass Valley in what is now British Columbia after a request from the Nisga'a nation, one of the Indigenous groups who were the original inhabitants of Canada.
The return of the pole has been agreed in less than a year and signed off by the Scottish government. It puts pressure on other museums and governments to return objects of significant cultural significance.
"We very much want to inspire other Indigenous nations that the impossible is possible," said Parent.
In Edinburgh yesterday the bigger picture was for another day as the ceremony took place to prepare the artefact that the Nisga'a consider to have a living presence.
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