College of the Redwoods will return items including baskets, ceremonial outfits, gambling trays and stone tools.
Most of the objects came from the Yurok, Karuk, Hupa and Wiyot Tribes in Northern California.
"These are not just dead objects to be studied," said Cintra Agee, a professor of Native American studies at the college who is in charge of the repatriation process. "These are incredibly rare at this point and incredibly important and very sacred to tribes and Native people, and it's just plain the right thing to do."
In recent years, there鈥檚 been an increase in museums and universities throughout the country returning ancestral remains and sacred objects to tribal nations. The federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990 requires institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American cultural items like human remains and sacred objects to the tribes or their lineal descendants. NAGPRA was amended in 2023 to clarify the steps for implementation. California also has its own version of this law, which was amended effective 2021.
Cal Poly Humboldt also recently began the process of repatriating over 23,000 cultural items in its collection.
The items from College of the Redwoods have been part of the school's collection for nearly 50 years, since they were purchased from local collector Alice Spinas in 1978.
"The collection has been an important resource for students and the local community to study the art, history, and culture of this region over the past 40 plus years," according to a press release from the college.
The items in the collection were restored and archived in 2016-2017, with many of them now displayed in one of the college's buildings.
Agee estimates it will take at least a year and a half for all of the items to be repatriated, which will require close communication between the college and local tribal governments.
"It absolutely needs to become a conversation, a government to government conversation, and a real respect for tribal sovereignty," she said.
She will work with the tribes or the lineal descendants of an object to determine how they would like the item to be used and where it should be stored.
The four tribes did not respond to a request for comment.
Agee said the tribes are "all very happy to hear that it's happening and are waiting for the process to unfold. We hope to begin initial consultations by the end of the summer."
