Human Remains and Objects Repatriated to Chumash Indians

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA—The Santa Barbara Independent reports that ancestral remains and artifacts have been returned to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians by the Yale Peabody Museum and Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. The repatriation took four years to organize under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which became law in 1990. “Our ancestors and their belongings were stolen from their resting place, a place where their families and communities prayed and grieved, leaving them to rest,” said Kathleen Marshall of the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center. The earliest collection of these objects occurred in 1877, she added. The remains will be reburied, while the objects will be archived for use in teaching. Ceremonial items will be used in ceremonies once again. “We are tremendously grateful for [the tribe’s] generosity and trust as we worked through the process to return these important items home,” commented Jane Pickering of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. To read more about the Chumash, go to "Off the Grid: Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park, California."