Eternal Sovereigns

In 1925, Pius XI staged the Vatican Missionary Exposition in Romes Vatican City. Offering a narrative of the Catholic Churchs beneficence to a global congregation, the exposition displayed thousands of cultural belongings stolen from Indigenous communities, which were seen by one million pilgrims. Gloria Jane Bells Eternal Sovereigns offers critical revision to that story. Bell reveals the tenacity, mobility, and reception of Indigenous artists, travelers, and activists in 1920s Rome. Animating these conjunctures, the book foregrounds competing claims to sovereignty from Indigenous and papal perspectives. Bell deftly juxtaposes the Indian Museum of nineteenth-century sculptor Ferdinand Pettrich, acquired by the Vatican, with the oeuvre of Indigenous artist Edmonia Lewis. Focusing on Turtle Island, Bell analyzes Indigenous cultural belongings made by artists from nations including Cree, Lakota, Anishinaabe, Nipissing, Kanienkeh:ka, Wolastoqiyik, and Kwakwakawakw. Drawing on years of archival research and field interviews, Bell provides insight into the Catholic Churchs colonial collecting and its ongoing ethnological display practices. Written in a voice that questions the academys staid conventions, the book reclaims Indigenous belongings and other stolen treasures that remain imprisoned in the stronghold of the Vatican Museums.