Smithsonian returns artifacts to Yurok Indians

[Shannon Graham]

The Smithsonian Institution has returned a trove of precious artifacts to the Yurok Indians in California in what is one of the largest repatriations of Native American ceremonial artifacts in U.S. history.

The Yurok, who have lived for centuries along California's Klamath River, received 217 sacred items that had been stored on museum shelves for nearly 100 years. The necklaces, headdresses, arrows, hides and other regalia from the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian are believed to be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old.

Full story and images here.



Read more: Yurok Indians exult at return of sacred cache

[Indianasmith]

Is there any other country in the WORLD that allows treasures thousands of years old to be returned to the distant descendants of their makers and be reburied in the ground?


THIS IS SHEER IDIOCY!

[PacificNorthWest-Relics]

Rez period basket... Repatriated under the NAGPRA?

[Mud Hawk]

To celebrate the return of the items, the Yurok will hold a Kwom-Shlen-ik, or "Object Coming Back," ceremony today in the town of Klamath.

Ahhh, the Sacred Yo-Yo Dance. I have heard of this. The dancers will perform tricks such as the Gravity Pull, Sleeper, Forward Pass, Around the Corner, Breakaway, and Rock the Baby...



In all seriousness though, they made it sound like the artifacts were "sitting on shelves" which sounds like "in storage" to me. What a great publicity stunt by the Smithsonian marketing team. I don't have a problem with artifacts being returned to their native decendants.

...and Yo-Yo translates to come-come in Chinese I think...

[Gibby]

I do not have a problem with it. If they were actually in " storage " . May as well someone get some use from the items. No one will appreciate it more than the descendants.

Unless they turn around in a month and try to sell them all off or something. I really do not see what this hurts.

[mootsman]

Originally Posted by Gibby

I do not have a problem with it. If they were actually in " storage " . May as well someone get some use from the items. No one will appreciate it more than the descendants.

Unless they turn around in a month and try to sell them all off or something. I really do not see what this hurts.

I agree completely. I'd rather them rot reburied on tribal land than stored in a museum. The only time I part with this with examples like Kennewick Man where there was no opportunity to even study the skeleton before Native Americans wanted it returned....and, in this case, there was very very little chance of any lineage.

I don't miss the days of my childhood when about every little museum around had Indian bones and grave goods on display. Maybe I'm the odd man out...so be it.