OTTAWA - First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders are set to gather at Montreal's airport Saturday to welcome home dozens of Indigenous artifacts released from the Vatican collection.

"I give my love and respect to the late Pope (Francis) and the new Pope (Leo), and I thank them for doing the right thing, to try and right the wrongs of the past," Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told The Canadian Press on Friday.

Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller will also be at the airport as the 61 items arrive. He told The Canadian Press he is "psyched" to be part of the return.

Miller previously served as the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and has assisted the repatriation efforts.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders have for years called on

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