Four Native American Indian tribes find 28 funeral objects
On the occasion of the Eighth Session of the Subsidiary Committee, Finland announced the return of 28 funeral objects and human remains to four indigenous tribes in the United States. These restitutions fall within the context of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Convention and respects the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
On 28 August 2020, the National Museum of Finland and four Native American Indian tribes of the United States, the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Acoma, the Pueblo of Zia, and the Pueblo of Zuni, entered into an agreement for the repatriation of 28 funerary items and human remains of 20 ancestors. These cultural items and human remains, estimated to date back to the 13th century, were reburied on Saturday 12 September 2020, during a ceremony in Mesa Verde, Colorado, where the representative of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and those of the four tribes were present.
These items and human remains were part of the National Museum of Finland’s Mesa Verde collection, originally compiled by the Swedish geologist Gustaf Nordenskiöld. The Finnish Government decided on the repatriation of these 28 objects and human remains in its plenary session on 13 August 2020. The Finnish authorities also assured that the cooperation between the museum and the tribes will continue.
This restitution case is the first repatriation from abroad of funerary findings of the indigenous peoples in the Mesa Verde region to their descendants. In their joint press release, the Tribes’ representatives emphasized the importance of intercultural dialogue and of the fact that the ancestors of their peoples are now in peace.