Repatriation and Returns
Our Commitment
Welcome to Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities around the world as well as others seeking to learn more about repatriations and returns at the Peabody Museum. We acknowledge the colonial and imperial past that led you to this portion of our website and emphasize our commitment to ethical stewardship and the return of ancestors and cultural heritage. We hope that here you will find resources and contact information to begin consultation for repatriations through NAGPRA, domestic returns beyond NAGPRA, and international returns.
We invite you to learn more about the repatriation and returns efforts at the Peabody and to find out how to start a repatriation consultation.
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Gitxaała Sacred Totem Pole
The Gitxaała Nation from British Columbia, Canada, contacted the Peabody as part of their research project on belongings in museums across the world. The Peabody cared for a sacred totem pole that had been removed from the community under coercion in 1897 during the Potlatch Ban when many cultural practices were illegal. The museum repatriated the pole in March 2023, as described in an online exhibition at the Gitxaała Nation Virtual Museum and the HMSC Connects! Podcast, The Journey Home: Repatriating the Gitxaała Totem Pole.
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Alutiiq Warrior-Whaler Kayak
In 2003 the museum began a joint project with members of the Alutiiq community on a rare warrior-whaler kayak. It developed into a 20-year education and research partnership. The kayak went on exhibit at the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository in Kodiak, Alaska, in 2016 and was formally repatriated to the community-owned museum in January 2023. For more on this repatriation, please see their museum's press release.
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Standing Bear Pipe Tomahawk
In June 2022 the museum welcomed a delegation from the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma for the return of Chief Standing Bear’s Pipe Tomahawk. In 1879 Chief Standing Bear won a landmark civil rights case that established for the first time that he – and by extension other Native Americans – was a person “within the meaning of the laws of the United States.” Further information can be found in this press release issued by the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska.
Woodbury Collection
The Peabody Museum at Harvard stewards a collection of hair samples from Indigenous people around the world assembled by anthropologist George Edward Woodbury in the 1930s and donated to the Museum in 1935. The vast majority are from North America, including clippings of hair from approximately 700 Native American children attending U.S. Indian Boarding Schools. Many of those samples have the names of the individuals whose hair was taken.
We want to support the reconnection of families and Tribal Nations with their relatives to facilitate the process of healing. This website makes available information on this collection, which includes the tribal affiliations of Native American individuals in the United States whose hair was taken, as well as the sites of collection, such as boarding schools, reservations, and museums.
This website shares a list of tribal affiliations and sites of collection. The Peabody Museum is fully committed to the return of hair back to families and Tribal Nations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Peabody Museum staff have compiled a list of frequently asked questions regarding repatriation and returns. If you do not see your question answered, please contact us at pmreturns@fas.harvard.edu.