Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the town of Burj Qalawieh, south Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The first ship of the Maghreb fleet delivering aid to break the siege on Gaza departs from the port of Gammarth in Tunisia.
Channel 12: Airspace closed at Ramon Airport due to fears of drone infiltration
IOF Spokesperson: Sirens sounded over an aircraft infiltration in the Bir Ora area, and details are being examined
Drone infiltration sirens sound north of the Gulf of Aqaba
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out five extremely violent raids on the western areas of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out major bombings in the Gaza Strip, the most violent since October 7
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree: The missile force carried out a major operation using the Palestine 2 ballistic hypersonic missile, hitting several targets in occupied Yafa.
Sirens sound in large areas of occupied Palestine after a missile launch from Yemen was detected
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 14 martyrs arrive at al-Shifa Hospital following Israeli massacre of al-Sultan Family north of Gaza.

US museum to return looted Wounded Knee artifacts to Indigenous tribes

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 18 Nov 2022 16:09
  • 1 Shares
5 Min Read

The objects include clothing, weapons, and pipes, dating back to the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre when 250 Lakota men, women, and children were killed at the hands of the US government.

  • x
  • Artefacts dating back to the Wounded Knee massacre (Telegram)
    Artifacts dating back to the Wounded Knee massacre (Telegram)

In a recent global campaign against museums to repatriate stolen artifacts, the US has been forced to face, as it should have a long time ago, to acknowledge the colonial brutality that founds some of its museum collections and still haunts the Indigenous Nations involved.

Government-funded institutions are required under The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990 to credit their ownership of Native human remains and sacred cultural objects.

However, according to the National Parks Service, the 574 federally recognized tribes are impacted as less than half of over 200,000 objects cataloged have resulted in the receipt of stolen cultural property - a figure that reflects legal loopholes and institutional suspicions. 

20 American museums and nine Indigenous tribes were awarded grants in the amount of $2.1m by the National Park Service in August to assist in the consultation and repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural assets in an attempt to increase enforcement of NAGPRA.

Founders Museum, a tiny library collection located in Barre, Massachusetts, becomes a central focus after being pointed at for "hoarding" Indigenous artifacts. But, earlier this month, more than 150 objects were returned to the Lakota and Sioux tribes in an official repatriation ceremony held at and by the museum.

The objects included clothing, weapons, and pipes, dating back to the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre,  which resulted in the brutal deaths of 250 Lakota men, women, and children at the hands of the US government. In 1973, the American Indian Movement occupied the site of Wounded Knee for 71 days to protest unbearable conditions on the reservation.

When Sacheen Littlefeather (Apache/Yaqui/Ariz) represented Marlon Brando at the 1973 Oscars, she spoke out against the abuse of Native Americans and rejected to receive Brando's award on his behalf. Littlefeather's career in movies came to an end as a result of the harassment and abuse she endured after the 60-second statement and during which she was jeered and booed.

Read next: Indigenous America: The US kills its victim and walks in its funeral

Museum President Ann Meilus told Artnet News that the ceremony represents a three-decade effort, which was challenged by “third party interference” and member rejection. 

The Woods Memorial Library Association, which oversaw the Founders Museum in 1993, agreed for the items to be returned to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The reservation's representatives in the Sioux nation sought funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to pay Sioux artisans to make duplicates of the artifacts.

That would guarantee that visitors would still be able to experience them firsthand without endangering the actual original artifact and generate Indigenous employment opportunities, but those attempts never went through. 

Editor and publisher of New Horizon magazine and official representative of the Oglala Sioux tribe, Mia Feroleto, constantly visited the museum, prompting members of the Barre Museum Association to vote for the continuation of repatriation efforts under the supervision of NAGPRA specialist Aaron Miller.

Meilus relayed to Artnet News, “We just wanted to do the right thing and help the Lakota people heal from the tragedy they suffered,” as she added that the museum contains “one of the most pristine collections of Native American artifacts in the country."

According to AP, a large chunk of the collection was sourced in the late 19th century from traveling shoe salesman and circus impresario Frank Root who obtained the objects directly from soldiers following the Wounded Knee massacre.

Pine Ridge resident, Surround Bear, expressed to The Boston Globe that this is a symbol "towards healing”, but the efforts mirror only a quarter of the museum’s possessions taken from over 60 different tribal Nations around the US.

Restitution efforts have racked up this year, not just in the US but around the globe especially in Europe. 

Glasgow Museums Institution said in June it will return seven Indian cultural artifacts plundered during British colonial control, a first for a UK museum service. Six of the objects were taken in the 1800s from northern India, while the seventh was unlawfully acquired after being stolen from its original owners.

Then in July, the Nigerian government signed a statement in Berlin stipulating the return of 1,130 Benin Bronzes from Germany. That was followed by the Horniman Museum in London pledging to return 72 treasured artifacts, including its collection of Benin bronzes, to Nigeria.

In August, Washington announced plans to return 30 stolen antiques to Cambodia, including bronze and stone statues of Hindu and Buddhist deities, which were carved over a thousand years ago. Later that month, The Netherlands returned 343 pre-Hispanic era ceramics to Panama following a campaign to protect the Central American country's cultural heritage and restore artifacts that were taken out during the 1900s.

Finally, in September, prosecutors in New York returned dozens of artifacts stolen from Italy and valued at roughly $19 million, including some discovered in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Earlier this month, the Peabody Museum at Harvard University admitted that it owns a collection of hair samples taken from Native American children at state-sponsored boarding schools in the 19th century, insisting in an official apology that restitution efforts have been initiated.

  • Sioux
  • indigenous people
  • indigenous tribes
  • Native Americans
  • Lakota

Most Read

The damaged building in the Katara neighborhood, Doha, Qatar, September 9, 2025 (Social media)

Hamas delegation survives Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar

  • Politics
  • 9 Sep 2025
Israeli police and rescue teams respond at the scene of a shooting attack where several people killed and injured in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 (AP)

Al-Quds shooting: 7 settlers killed, several critically injured

  • Politics
  • 8 Sep 2025
Pro-"Israel" conservative Charlie Kirk shot during Utah speech

Pro-'Israel' far-right Charlie Kirk shot dead during Utah speech

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, on Friday, September 27, 2024 (AP)
Politics

'Israel' stops unfunded diplomacy ahead of UN, October 7 memorial

An Israeli Air Force fighter jet releases flares over the Gaza Strip, is seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 8, 2025 (AP)
Politics

OIC summit draft: Israeli attack on Qatar risks normalization

People shout slogans and hold Palestinian flags while protesting during the twenty-first stage of La Vuelta cycling race from Alalpardo to Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP)
Sports

Pro-Palestine protests force abrupt end to Vuelta a España finale

Damage is seen after an Israeli strike targeted a compound that hosted Hamas' political leadership in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli regime faces growing isolation over Qatar strike: Reports

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS