Ottawa – A Mi’kmaw hereditary chief is asking for the public’s assistance in locating an irreplaceable ceremonial jacket that went missing at Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport earlier this week.
Hereditary Chief Stephen Augustine of Elsipogtog First Nation says the jacket, carried in a black vinyl suit bag, disappeared sometime on November 10 while he was travelling home from Europe. Despite filing a lost-item report with airport authorities, the jacket has not yet been recovered.
The missing regalia carries profound cultural, historical, and personal significance.
The jacket is adorned with:
- The Order of Canada medal,
- The King Charles III Coronation Medal, and
- The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal,
and features intricate Mi’kmaw designs that illustrate Augustine’s family lineage.
The garment is a replica of a 19th-century Mi’kmaq ceremonial jacket gifted to British Army Capt. Henry Dunn O’Halloran in the 1840s. It was crafted by one of Augustine’s late ancestors and serves as an essential piece of his hereditary regalia.
“It’s a treasure. It is a very personal, ceremonial item for me as a hereditary chief,” Augustine said. “I will cry when I receive it back. I have not been myself ever since I lost it.”
He estimated its monetary value at $5,000, but emphasized its deep emotional and cultural worth, saying its loss feels “like losing a family member.”
Augustine believes the suit bag was misplaced somewhere inside the Montreal airport after he passed through customs. He had been returning from Spain, where he attended the launch of a replica of the San Juan, a Basque whaling ship that sank near Red Bay, Labrador, in 1565. The ship’s reconstruction — a collaboration between Spain and Canada — uses traditional techniques and is expected to sail to Canada in the coming years.
Reflecting on the irony of losing his own replica item after participating in a historic commemoration of another, Augustine said he remains hopeful: “Although it’s a replica like the Basque ship, it is still valuable to me. I just hope it gets found.”
He is urging anyone who may have seen the jacket or found the suit bag to come forward so it can be returned to its rightful place in his family and community.