Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, the museum returns ancestral remains outside of NAGPRA. Following the recommendations of the Hammonds Report, the museum is working with the Human Remains in the Harvard Museum Collections Returns Committee to establish criteria that defines ancestral remains ineligible for use in academic research and education at the university, and provide direction for the university to implement interment, reinterment, return to descendant communities, or repatriation of remains as needed.

Yes, the museum returns cultural items outside of NAGPRA. In September 2022, Harvard created general guidance on the University’s approach to return requests under the Provost's policy for Considerations of Claims for the Return of Items in Harvard University Collections. This document supports new policies and procedures for the return of cultural items from the Peabody Museum. The University’s Human Remains in the Harvard Museum Collections Returns Committee oversees the return of ancestral remains. For more questions, please contact pmreturns@fas.harvard.edu.

We welcome requests from origin communities, descendant communities, Indigenous nations, and national governments. Requestors are asked to include documentation of cultural affiliation (a relationship of shared group identity) or, when a request is not made by an origin or descendant community, documentation that they have the legal standing and authority to make a claim. Ideally, requests are made by the recognized official representative of the community governing body, nation, or state for such matters (e.g., Tribal chair, elected or appointed community leader, etc.).

There may be many reasons why cultural items currently in the Peabody Museum’s care should be returned to descendant communities. For example, reasons could include circumstances surrounding an item’s acquisition by the Museum such as forced or coerced sale, military or political violence, looting, theft, or other use of force and/or coercion on the part of the collector; removal from the origin community via misrepresentation or under protest. Other reasons speak to the inalienability of certain cultural items that should not have been sold, traded, or otherwise disposed of by an individual. Additionally, there are situations in which an item’s removal from the origin or descendant community had and continues to have a detrimental effect on cultural practices or spiritual wellbeing of a community and the return of a cultural item best serves the culturally responsive care of both the community and cultural item, regardless of the circumstances of acquisition.

For the sake of all possible claimants, the process is necessarily one of careful assessment, due diligence in provenance research, and thoughtful deliberation that can be time consuming and complex. Thorough provenance and the establishment of a relationship are key components to requests for the return of cultural items. In making a decision to return, the Museum seeks to fully understand the history of the item, the circumstances of its removal from the origin community, and the path the item took through time as it made its way to the Peabody. Through this information, which is always assessed via consultation with the requestor, we work to establish the requestor’s relationship to the item and the ways in which the community and the item itself are better served through repatriation. Once information and sources have been compiled and discerned, the request can move forward through the review process.

Requests are formally acknowledged upon receipt and reviewed by designated Museum staff. The review process consists of three stages: 1) an initial review of the cultural item being requested, the requestor’s reasoning and relationship to the cultural item, and any associated documentation; 2) review by Museum advisory committees that provide recommendations to the Museum’s Director; and 3) administrative review and issuing of a final decision, usually by the Provost of the University.

For the sake of all possible claimants, the process is necessarily one of careful assessment, due diligence in provenance research, and thoughtful deliberation that can be time consuming and complex. In some cases, additional information may need to be identified, requested, and compiled during the evaluation and review stages, and available resources may limit the pace at which this important work progresses. In all steps, the Peabody’s goal is to achieve a thoughtful outcome framed by our firm commitment to ethical stewardship and community partnership.

Decisions on returns are made on a case-by-case basis once we receive a request. The museum works closely with the requesting community to fully understand their goals and to undertake provenance research. Investigating the history of a specific item, and the path it took before arriving at the museum, provides important information that can benefit all possible claimants. Discussions can take time and, depending on the wishes of a requesting community, decisions may not be made public immediately.

For more information on the returns process and to begin a claim, please contact us at pmreturns@fas.harvard.edu. This email is continually monitored by staff and we will reach out to provide additional guidance and information about required elements of a claim submission, to answer questions around process, and to help with access to collections and related documentation.

In developing its approach, the Peabody takes guidance from the following Harvard University and Peabody Museum policies: 

• Peabody Museum Ethical Stewardship 
• Consideration of Claims for the Return of Items in Harvard University Collections (September 2022) 
• Harvard University Report of the Steering Committee on Human Remains in University Museum Collections (Fall 2022) 

This policy operates within national and international legal contexts concerning issues related to cultural property: 

• United States Antiquities Act of 1906 
• Archaeological Resources Protection Action Act of 1979 
• UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (14 November 1970) as implemented in the United States via the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act of 1983 

In addition, the Peabody Museum adheres to the American Alliance of Museum’s Code of Ethics (1993, amended 2000), which specifically states that such claims, “… should be handled openly, seriously, responsively and with respect for the dignity of all parties involved.” The museum fully commits to undertaking appropriate and respectful due diligence in evaluating all such claims, and to the transparency of its process in considering requests. 

We welcome requests around archival repatriation. These requests will be considered under the eligibility criteria outlined in the Claims for Returns of Cultural Items policy.

No research is permitted on ancestors covered under NAGPRA unless authorized Tribal representatives have granted permission. The museum is working with the Human Remains in Harvard Museum Collections Research Review Committee on policies that will guide the University in reviewing all research requests and establish criteria that define permissible uses of some ancestral remains in Harvard collections in research and education. All such research requests are reviewed by the Committee.