Oklahoma Tribes Seek Artifacts from New York Museum
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act has significant implications for Oklahoma tribes, as it mandates the return of ancestral remains and sacred artifacts.
As the Associated Press reported, the American Museum of Natural History, like many institutions, possesses items of great cultural and spiritual importance to the tribes. While NAGPRA aims to facilitate the repatriation of these items, many tribes face challenges in reclaiming their heritage due to bureaucratic obstacles, limited funding, and slow compliance from museums.
Gordon Yellowman, who heads the Department of Language and Culture for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, said museums should look to create more digital and virtual exhibits.
He said the tribes will seek from the New York museum a sketchbook by the Cheyenne warrior Little Finger Nail containing his drawings and illustrations from battle.
The book, which is in storage and not on display, was plucked from his body after he and other tribe members were killed by U.S. soldiers in Nebraska in 1879.
Chuck Hoskin, chief of the Cherokee Nation, said many institutions now understand they can no longer treat Indigenous items as museum curiosities from peoples that no longer exist.
Hoskin said he visited the Peabody this year after the university reached out about returning hair clippings collected in the early 1930s from hundreds of Indigenous children, including Cherokees, forced to assimilate in the notorious Indian boarding schools.
“The fact that we’re in a position to sit down with Harvard and have a really meaningful conversation, that’s progress for the country,” he said.
More worth reading:
Humphrey Adds DOC Studies
Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, said Oklahomans need to take stock of conditions in state prisons that have made them among the most violent in the nation He will lead two interim studies he said will expose problems in the state’s prisons. [Tulsa World]
Feds Pass on Oklahoma’s Environmental Proposal
Despite turning in a detailed plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Oklahoma missed out on a share of nearly $5 billion in federal grants to accomplish these goals. [The Oklahoman]
OHFA: Expect Fewer Subsidies as Rents Rise
A budget shortfall in Oklahoma’s Section 8 program may be manageable this year, a state agency official said, but rising rent costs make it unlikely in coming years that federal funding will be sufficient to help the same number of families pay for housing. [Tulsa World]
Corporal Punishment, Vaping on List of Hosue Studies
House members will spend the interim evaluating corporal punishment, vaping and the cost of illegal immigration, to name a few issues. House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, approved 114 interim studies. [Oklahoma Voice]
18% of Oklahomans don’t practice a religion.
Ciao for now,
Ted Streuli
Executive Director, Oklahoma Watch
tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org
