Repatriation

2. "Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, AK (July 14, 2008). In 1942 the museum received a donation of eighty-five objects, including '74 stone arrowheads, 1 stone mortar, 1 leather pad, 1 iron ace head, 1 metal rifle butt, 1 iron knife blade, 1 antler digging stick handle, 1 stone club with wood handle, 1 hammerstone, 1 wood and iron fishhook, 1 carved wood seal figure, and 1 necklace with three boxes of beads.' These items, removed from a human burial located on the Snake River, satisfied the requirements for NAGPRA classification as 'unassociated funerary objects.' It was decided that the museum would repatriate the array to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon."

10. "Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: Horner Collection, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR (August 21, 2008). In 1972 the institution received a 'trinket' basket collected sometime prior to 1934 by a Mrs. J.E. Barrett. Although there is 'no evidence the trinket basket was ever buried with any individual...J.E. Barrett is known to have collected cultural items from burials and mounds.' Tribal representatives 'identified this basket as typical of those found at the mouth of the Columbia River and [maintained it] displays characteristics of Clatsop, Tillamook, and Chinook basketry techniques and materials.' Classified as an 'unassociated funerary object,' the basket was due to be given to the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation in Oregon."

3-8. "Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Intermountain Region, Santa Fe, NM (July 18, 2008). These six notices involved pieces described under NAGPRA as 'sacred objects,' with some also qualifying as 'objects of cultural patrimony.' All of the notices emanate from a 1994 investigation into a violation of the Migratory Bird Treat Act carried out jointly by the National Park Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Items recovered by federal authorities from the East-West Trading Post in Santa Fe, New Mexico included objects eventually linked to the Pueblos of Acoma and Santa Ana, as well as the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo and Mescalero Apache tribes. the objects included 'a constellation set with feathers,' as well as 'one set of wooden figures, one chest plate,' and another 'constellation set' (Zuni); a katsina carving with a feather attached and a tablita decorated with pheasant feathers (Hopi); '4 hoof rattles, 1 pouch and 6 leather hide rattles' (Mescalero Apache); and a collection of Navajo jish (medicine pieces): '7 hoof rattles; 2 leather hide rattles; 1 pouch; 1 prayer sticks bundle with eagle feather; 1 heron's head bundle; 1 rattle with feathers; 1 medicine sack/kit; 1 bundle eagle feathers; 2 cranes [sic] head bundles; and 3 prayer sticks with eagle feathers.' As noted above, all of these pieces were classified as 'sacred objects.' The items from the Navajo and Hopi tribes also qualified as 'objects of cultural patrimony.' The government agreed to repatriate the various collections to the separate entities with which they are associated: the Pueblos of Acoma and Santa Ana; and the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo and Mescalero Apache tribes of Arizona and New Mexico."
(American Indian Art, Vol. 34 (4):94-95, Autumn 2009).


I thought this issue's Legal Briefs was an interesting mix of items and facilities. There were some items repatriated from museums and science centers, a lot from U.S. Government facilities and several from university museums. University of Oregon in Corvallis had 4 separate entries. I found the entries pertaining to the National Park Service especially interesting since the items were repatriated to more than one tribe and this involved more than one law. It speaks to how complex NAGPRA is.