Swiss collector wants thousands of Indigenous artifacts returned to communities

By Brittany Hobson A Swiss collector who has amassed thousands of Indigenous artifacts said he is eager to have his collection repatriated back to the communities it came from. Vincent Escriba has accumulated 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. The 67-year-old previously housed the items in a museum he ran in Switzerland that closed last year after Escriba decided to retire. Escriba has been speaking with a group of First Nations leaders and advocates in Manitob…