SANTA YNEZ BAND OF CHUMASH INDIANS WELCOMES HOME CULTURAL ITEMS AND ANCESTORS REPATRIATED FROM HARVARD AND YALE
SANTA YNEZ, CA – July 9, 2026 — The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has announced the successful repatriation of cultural items and ancestors from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University and the Yale Peabody Museum. The return, which also included items of cultural patrimony and sacred objects, arrived by truck at the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center on Saturday, June 27, after a multi-day cross-country trip, marking a significant milestone in the Tribe's ongoing efforts to bring home its cultural items and ancestors.
The repatriation followed two separate Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) notices issued by Harvard and Yale and represents the culmination of years of consultation and collaboration between the Tribe and both institutions.
NAGPRA, a federal law enacted in 1990, establishes a process for federally recognized Tribes to seek the return of human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony held by institutions receiving federal funding.
Kathleen Marshall, NAGPRA representative, Museum Board Chairwoman and Lead Language Teacher for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, says she hopes the successful collaboration with Harvard and Yale serves as an example to other Tribal nations pursuing repatriation efforts, demonstrating that meaningful consultation, persistence and mutual respect can lead to the return of ancestors and cultural items.
"This repatriation has formed into a solid relationship between our Tribe, Harvard Peabody and Yale Peabody," Kathleen said. "It has taken four years to complete, with many visits to the East Coast. These two institutions have proven to be a rewarding endeavor. They learned from us, they listened. It did not come without conflict and hard conversations, but ultimately, they did the right thing. The people who are in place now respect cultural knowledge, and it ended up with our ancestors and their belongings coming home in a positive way, leaving behind respectful relationships."
"It has been an honor to collaborate with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians on this repatriation," said Jane Pickering, William & Muriel Seabury Howells Director of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. "We are tremendously grateful for their generosity and trust as we worked through the process to return these important items home. The Peabody Museum is committed to conducting repatriations in ways that help heal the wounds of historical trauma and with a deeper understanding of our responsibilities to Tribal communities past, present and future."
"Over the past four years, the Yale Peabody Museum has had the unique privilege of consulting with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians towards this repatriation,” said Jessie Cohen, Assistant Director of Repatriation at Yale Peabody Museum. “Through open and honest collaboration, the Tribe and Museum engaged in consultations leading to the Museum's largest repatriation of cultural items to date. The removal of these materials from traditional Chumash homelands has caused trauma and harm, and we hope their return brings healing to the Tribe.”
"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," Marshall said. "For them to be taken, stolen and put in wood trays or boxes, traveling all over the country and all over the world, is cruel and inhumane. The institutions that receive federal funding are all now following the NAGPRA process to ensure the ancestors return to the federally recognized Tribes. With these returns, the ancestors receive a proper ceremony with all Chumash nations. We are guaranteeing their return to our Mother Earth is done privately, and they are placed back to the land they came from."
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is located in Santa Barbara County, California. Its reservation was established and officially recognized by the federal government in 1901. Today, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians remains the only federally recognized Chumash Tribe in the nation. The Tribe is a self-governing sovereign nation and follows the laws set forth in its Tribal constitution.