Repatriating Together: Reconciling Split and Shared Collections

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Four Decades of NAGPRA, Part 1: Accomplishments and Challenges" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Intentional and thorough NAGPRA efforts illustrate the prevalence of archaeological material removed from the same sites, and even from the same excavation events, that is now scattered among institutions. Provenance research and communicating with state archaeological surveys or organizations can reveal collecting and excavation practices and networks that connect separated and sometimes unknown materials. When institutions do not take these steps, these split and shared collections often lead to incomplete repatriations and reburials. This perpetuates trauma and creates undue workloads for tribes to identify these collections on their own. Gilcrease Museum and the Arkansas Archeological Survey recently identified the presence of split and shared legacy collections between the two institutions. Consultation with the Caddo Nation followed soon after the realization, and a plan was made to move forward. Uniting these collections is of the upmost importance to the Caddo Nation. All parties are committed to working closely together towards repatriation and restoring the individuals with their belongings. This involves determining and attempting to reconcile the complications of these legacy collections, using networks to find other possible related collections, and acknowledging the cultural impact to the Caddo Nation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Four Decades of NAGPRA, Part 1: Accomplishments and Challenges

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52345