All Native American Ancestral Human Remains Formally Deaccessioned

New Curatorial Position Created to Support NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA Consultation with Native American Communities

Web Page on Provenance and Repatriation Efforts Launched: famsf.org/art-stories/provenance-repatriation

SAN FRANCISCO, August 15, 2024 — The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (“Fine Arts Museums”) announce the repatriation of three funerary objects—two earspools and a mask—to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Chickasaw Nation. Effective June 2024, the items were repatriated according to the regulations of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). These repatriations are the most recent objects to be returned to tribes from the Fine Arts Museums’ collections, following the repatriation of a shield to the Pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico in 2023. In addition to these repatriations, in April 2024, the Fine Arts Museums formally deaccessioned all Native American Ancestral human remains still in their physical possession and will repatriate the remains to affiliated communities per California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA) and NAGPRA.

To further resource this work, the Fine Arts Museums have hired an Assistant Curator, NAGPRA, to assist the Fine Arts Museums in continuing to fulfill its commitment to culturally sensitive and timely repatriation of these Ancestral human remains and ongoing compliance with NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA. Isabell Villasana will join the Fine Arts Museums in this role in September for a period of two years.

To facilitate information sharing with the public, the Fine Arts Museums have expanded a Provenance and Repatriation web page on famsf.org.

“The curatorial staff stewarding the Fine Arts Museums’ Arts of the Americas collection are engaged in long-term dialogue and collaboration with communities of origin. Culturally sensitive repatriation of Ancestral human remains is a top priority and we are grateful to the Tribal representatives who engage with us in this work, enabling the return of Ancestors to their communities,” said Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

About Isabell Villasana

As a current PhD candidate in Anthropology (Archaeology) at the University of California, Berkeley, Isabell Villasana engages in community-accountable collaborative research with Tribal partners to address the harmful but lesser-known repositories resulting from destructive archaeological analyses. Her research utilizes oral histories and institutional archives to understand how settler-time enables dispossession in the era of NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA, while developing tools in deference to Tribal partners to seek means of restorative justice with respect to such programs. Villasana previously served as a Repatriation Assistant/Interim Repatriation Project Manager for the Fowler Museum at UCLA. In this role, she collaborated with California tribes, state and federal agencies, foreign governments, and communities for CalNAGPRA and NAGPRA repatriation of Ancestral human remains, cultural objects, and belongings.

More about NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA Compliance

The Fine Arts Museums are bound by federal and state laws—including NAGPRA—that support the rights of Native American communities regarding museum collections and exhibitions. NAGPRA, a federal law of the United States passed in 1990, compels museums and institutions that receive federal funding to consult with Native American tribes and lineal descendants concerning human remains and other cultural items in their collections “to address the rights of lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations to Native American cultural items, including human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.” All NAGPRA repatriation by the Fine Arts Museums is recorded in the Federal Register: The Daily Journal of the United States Government.

The Fine Arts Museums are also required to comply with state law CalNAGPRA (California Health & Safety Code §§ 8010-30), which “requires all state agencies and museums that receive state funding and that have possession or control over collections of human remains or cultural items to provide a process for the identification and repatriation of these items to the appropriate tribes.” Institutions are required to prepare inventories of collections and repatriate human remains as well as, funerary and cultural items as dictated by the law.

As a department of the City and County of San Francisco, the Fine Arts Museums work with an appointed attorney within the City Attorney’s Office of San Francisco as our legal counsel. This includes the Fine Arts Museums’ work on deaccessioning as it involves both state and federal law.

The Fine Arts Museums are working to return all Native American Ancestral remains to their affiliated communities. Ohlone Ancestral human remains from Point Richmond, Contra Costa County were repatriated to the Ohlone Indian Tribe in 1996. In April 2024, the Fine Arts Museums deaccessioned all Native American Ancestral human remains still in its collection. Provenance research and repatriation of those Ancestral human remains is now in process. California Indian tribes that may be culturally affiliated with these Ancestral human remains have been notified, and consultation is in progress to establish cultural affiliation. The Fine Arts Museums will submit an inventory of the “California Indian tribe human remains” / “California Native American human remains” to the Native American Heritage Commission under CalNAGPRA and repatriate the human remains to the appropriate tribes.

As art museums, the Fine Arts Museums do not display or interpret Native American Ancestral human remains. None of the remains have been on view since the new de Young building opened in 2005; museum records do not indicate that such remains were on view before 2005. The Fine Arts Museums do not conduct any scientific research or study on these holdings, and they are housed in restricted storage. There is no physical or digital access to the remains by the public, and Fine Arts Museums staff access the remains only as necessary for responsible stewardship. In consultation with Tribes and communities, the Fine Arts Museums follow stewardship requirements specific to those Tribes and their communities. We do not allow photography of or physical access to these remains while they are waiting to be repatriated.

The Fine Arts Museums’ Provenance and Repatriation webpage presents information about the work guided by NAGPRA, including the deaccessioning of Native American Ancestral human remains, in addition to repatriation claims received and completed. Per CalNAGPRA it also includes information on collection history, loans and physical possession, and past repatriation of California Native American Ancestral human remains. Furthermore, the web page details International Repatriation work, including information on the return of Teotihuacan mural fragments to Mexico, repatriation of Ancestral Māori human remains to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, repatriation of Ancestral human remains to the Philippines, and status of four Benin royal court objects. The web page will be updated regularly and transparently, while prioritizing and respecting the wishes of constituent communities.

Native American Art at the Fine Arts Museums

Arts of the Americas have been represented in the Fine Arts Museums’ collection since the de Young opened in 1895, and the holdings have grown substantially throughout the 20th century and beyond. The Native American art collection has a distinctly Western focus, which is appropriate for the de Young’s location on the Pacific coast. The collection includes Alaska Native art, basketry by California Native weavers, pottery and textiles from the American Southwest, and drawings and beadwork by artists from the Great Plains region. Recent acquisition efforts are focused on growing the Fine Arts Museums’ holdings of contemporary Native American art.

Since the opening of the new de Young in 2005, the Fine Arts Museums have worked closely and in partnership with Indigenous communities to steward and interpret their collection. Recent collaborations with Native American groups include the publication of Native American Art from the Thomas W. Weisel Family Collection, which involved extensive community consultation and input and features contributions from 89 authors, primarily of Native American heritage. The catalogue addresses questions about presenting culturally sensitive items and sharing stewardship and authority between museums and communities of origin.

Recent exhibitions include Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California’s South Coast Range, Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo, Nampeyo and the Sikyatki Revival, and an upcoming reinstallation of the permanent collection galleries for Native American art were co-curated with Native American scholars, cultural leaders, and artists.

Working in partnership with Alaska Native educators and the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, in 2022 the Fine Arts Museums premiered a multimedia digital publication for digital audiences, Alaska Native Art Close Look, along with an associated short-film series.

About the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprising the de Young in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, are the largest public arts institutions in San Francisco.

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are located on land unceded by the Ramaytush Ohlone, who are the original inhabitants of what is now the San Francisco Peninsula. The greater Bay Area is also the ancestral territory of other Ohlone peoples, as well as the Miwok, Yokuts, and Patwin. We acknowledge, recognize, and honor the Indigenous ancestors, elders, and descendants whose nations and communities have lived in the Bay Area over many generations and continue to do so today. We respect the enduring relationships that exist between Indigenous peoples and their homelands. We are committed to partnering with Indigenous communities to raise awareness of their legacy and engage with the history of the region, the impacts of genocide, and the dynamics of settler colonialism that persist today.

Contacts
Press Office / press@famsf.org
NAGPRA Inquiries / nagpra@famsf.org