SANTA YNEZ, CA – The Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum recently made a cultural return of four culturally significant artifacts to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, motivated by the July 2024 revisions to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a U.S. federal law that requires museums, institutions and universities to respectfully return remains and cultural items to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated American Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages and Native Hawaiian organizations.
The four items involved in the cultural return were: two baskets; a steatite stone model of a Chumash tomol (plank canoe); and a photograph of Santa Ynez Chumash ancestors from the early 1900s.
“We are excited to see our cultural items returned to our people by a local museum,” said Nakia Zavalla, Cultural Director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. “This speaks volumes on how they understand and respect cultural returns to tribal communities.”
The cultural return process between the tribe and the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum began in 2022 when Krissy Castillo, Executive Director for the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum, was introduced to Zavalla. Further discussions between the two parties led to the successful and amicable cultural return process. When the artifacts were returned during the recent visit, additional items were identified as possible Santa Ynez Chumash artifacts and will be revisited and reviewed for a potential cultural return during a future visit.
“Since our founding in 1961, our museum has been privileged to preserve and share these items as part of our collection, ensuring their stories were not forgotten,” said Castillo. “Now, we are deeply honored to return them to the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center where they belong, and where their cultural significance will continue to thrive. This collaboration reflects our commitment to honoring the histories we safeguard and strengthening bonds with the community we serve.”
In July 2024, as part of the tribe’s efforts to educate the community on NAGPRA, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians partnered with UC Santa Barbara for a free, one-day NAGPRA/CALNAGPRA workshop in the Chumash Casino Resort’s Samala Showroom to help California Native American tribes, museums, institutions and universities navigate recent NAGPRA updates.
The workshop featured panel discussions on both state and federal repatriation laws, requirements, responsibilities and best practices when working with tribes. Participants learned more about the recently updated NAGPRA regulations and how institutions and Native American tribes can work together for a more seamless repatriation process of funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony to tribes. Topics of conversation included repatriation deadlines, consultation, what tribes are included, repatriation statements, contact lists and past examples of positive and negative repatriation experiences.
