Museum Lists

Lynn Pankonin, a curator at Cheney Cowles Museum, has overseen much of the work of returning Native American belongings to the proper tribes.

The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act required museums to create detailed lists of items in their collections.

Cheney Cowles inherited a large American Indian collection when the Museum of Native American Culture closed its galleries near the Gonzaga University campus in 1991.

As federal law requires, the museum created a detailed list of items. Tribes can request a copy of the list, visit collections and, when appropriate, start the paperwork to reclaim items.

“We have repatriated burial goods, which were part of an archaeological excavation that took place in the 1930s,” Pankonin said.

She wouldn’t venture a guess of how many successful claims have been made, but said the number would be fewer than at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle.

Once an item is claimed by a tribe, Pankonin said she has no idea what’s done with it. It’s tribal business. Each tribe’s traditions determine how the item will be treated, she said.

“In some cases I’m sorry to see the pieces go,” Pankonin said. “Not because I’m a museum person, but because I’m really attached. But I know they’re going home where they belong and that makes me feel good, very good.”

The numbers of calls have decreased considerably since 1991, but it’s an ongoing process. Calls and letters still come in from tribes seeking lost items.