After 150 years, a prized box returns to an Indigenous nation in Canada: ‘I felt like royalty traveling with it’

Q̓íx̌itasu Elroy White dances with the box to welcome it in ceremony. Photograph: Leyland Cecco/The Guardian

When the plane took off from Vancouver’s airport, bound north for the Great Bear Rainforest, Q̓íx̌itasu Elroy White felt giddy with excitement.

The plane traced a route along the Pacific Ocean and British Columbia’s coast mountains, still snow-capped in late May.