Cal Poly Humboldt is also focusing on repatriation by hiring Megan Watson. She’s the new coordinator hired to oversee the repatriation of Native American cultural items in the university’s collection. JPR’s Jane Vaughan recently spoke with Watson about her work.
Jane Vaughan: You've been hired to make sure that the university complies with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which is also called NAGPRA. It establishes requirements and processes for federally funded agencies and museums to repatriate the Native American human remains and cultural items in their collections. This legislation was first implemented federally in 1995, so why is this effort happening now?
Megan Watson: Cal Poly Humboldt does not have any human remains or associated funerary objects in their collections. And therefore, inventories were not submitted back in the 90s. And, to our knowledge, we do not have any unassociated funerary remains, sacred objects or objects of cultural patrimony. However, we recognize that it is the tribes' decision whether the cultural items in the collection meet those definitions under NAGPRA. And so that is why now we are taking the steps to consult with tribes to get their input about these cultural items and to determine whether or not these cultural items meet the definitions under the law. That being said, Cal Poly Humboldt is committed to repatriating cultural items that don't fall under the strict definitions under NAGPRA, if there's interest from the tribes.
JV: What does repatriation actually mean? We keep saying this word. Is that literally mailing an object back to a tribe or transferring its ownership? What does that mean?
MW: Repatriation can look very different depending on the tribes that we're consulting with. So repatriation, under the law, is the return of legal control of the items to the tribes. Once the legal control's returned to the tribes, it will be up to the tribes to decide what to do with those items. Some tribes may want the physical return of those items. They may use them in ceremonies. They may choose to re-bury them. And then some tribes may actually want the university to continue to hold on to those items. They would still have legal control over those items, but we would house them here on campus until the tribe maybe found a facility of their own. And so that really will look different depending on which tribes we're consulting with.
JV: I understand that Cal Poly Humboldt has over 23,000 cultural items that are subject to this law. What sort of items are we talking about? What sort of things might that be?
MW: Sure, so the majority of the items in the collections are actually flaked stone, and it's what archaeologists refer to as debitage. So that would be flaked stone that was the remnants from making stone tools, whether that's projectile points, other stone tools made of obsidian or chert. So the items in the collection are basically the remnants from making tools, not the tools themselves.
JV: Okay, that's interesting. So how did all of these items come to be in the university's possession?
MW: These items came to the university through various sources, mostly through archaeological work done in the anthropology department as well as the Center for Indian Community Development.
JV: 23,000 items is a lot of different items. How do you, in your new role, even begin to go about that process of repatriating them?
MW: My first step is to determine the cultural affiliation for these items, and then I'll be reaching out to tribes, and we will be consulting with them. Again, the process will look different depending on the tribe that we're consulting with. Some tribes may want to go through the items one by one. Some tribes may not want the items to be handled any further. And so really, the first step is consultation with the tribes. And then from there, we'll determine the next steps. So Cal Poly Humboldt is in full support of repatriation under NAGPRA. And my goal as the new coordinator is 100% repatriation.
JV: Why do you think that this work is so important? What makes it so important for you?
MW: For me, I became really passionate about repatriation work when I was a research assistant for the San Francisco State NAGPRA program. I saw how important these cultural items were to tribes, and it really impacted my career going forward. And so for me, I think this is an opportunity to right a historical wrong. I'm just very, very honored to be a part of it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
