The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations says it found no evidence of theft or “ill-intent” after 132 pieces disappeared from its $14.4-million Indigenous art collection.

Police were never called, and the department still cannot explain what happened to the paintings, jewelry, sculptures and other taxpayer-funded works, according to documents obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“There was no finding of theft or ill-intent,” officials wrote in a January briefing note titled The Indigenous Art Collection. No explanation was provided for that conclusion.

“Efforts are underway in an attempt to locate the remaining unaccounted-for artwork,” the department said. Another review of its regional offices is now underway.

Go Ad Free

The collection dates back to 1965 and contains 5,176 works, including individual pieces valued in the six figures. Artworks were stored in an unsecured warehouse or shipped to regional offices for decoration.

The department has contacted 32 artists or estates connected to 47 of the missing works but has refused to identify the pieces or their creators publicly, Blacklock’s reported.

“This went on for decades,” Conservative MP Jamie Schmale told the Commons heritage committee last November.

No one has been fired or reprimanded after the federal government lost about $14 million worth of Indigenous art under its control. pic.twitter.com/bVNkA3uMJz

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 4, 2026

“Regardless of what the number is, there are pieces missing, worth money, worth value to people who created that art,” said Schmale. “This doesn’t happen in the National Gallery.”

Conservative MP Rachael Thomas called the department’s handling of the collection “despicable,” accusing officials of shrugging off both the financial and cultural value of the missing works.

An audit found that the federal government has lost about $14 million worth of Indigenous art. Many of the artists have not been notified. pic.twitter.com/LEIQVesq3y

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 4, 2026

“You shrug your shoulders and pretend it doesn’t matter,” Thomas told the committee.

Heritage Minister Marc Miller acknowledged in February that Ottawa has a “moral obligation” to recover the collection.

“Any time you receive art or sacred items from Indigenous people, it is something that has to be treated with extra care,” Miller testified.

Marc Miller's department shrugged off lost or stolen Indigenous cultural artifacts pic.twitter.com/UAKznnbo6J

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 4, 2026

When Conservative MP Kevin Waugh asked officials to confirm whether efforts to find the missing works would continue or the case would be closed, department managers did not answer.