Colgate University returns artifacts to Oneida Indian Nation in repatriation ceremony

VERONA, N.Y. — Colgate University, in a Nov. 9 ceremony, repatriated more than 1,500 funerary objects and cultural artifacts to the Oneida Indian Nation.

The items came from the collections of the university’s Longyear Museum of Anthropology. The repatriation continues a long partnership between the university and the Oneida Indian Nation and the return of culturally significant objects, according to an Oneida Indian Nation news release.

Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter, Colgate University President Brian Casey, and James Kirby Martin, a historian and University of Houston professor emeritus, spoke at the event.

The repatriation was among the largest single transfers of cultural artifacts in the state’s history and included a variety of objects interred with Oneida ancestors during burial.

“For decades, too many museums and other educational and cultural institutions have followed indefensible practices regarding the ancestral remains and cultural artifacts of Native Americans,” Halbritter said. “These practices have been allowed to continue under the belief that preserving history is of the ultimate importance without questioning the means of doing so. They assume it is possible while divorcing the history from the people to whom it belongs, presuming to tell our stories with stolen artifacts and unfamiliar voices. Native people’s funerary and ceremonial objects should never be the property of museums in this way.”

Halbritter said the Oneida Indian Nation is grateful to Colgate University for continuing conversations about repatriation as well as its recognition of the sovereignty and dignity of Native people.

“Many of the sacred belongings being repatriated today came into the university’s possession through a collection acquired in 1959 – one that should never have been acquired,” Casey said. “For this, on behalf of this university, I humbly apologize. I hope that today’s repatriation brings Colgate closer to the members of the Oneida Indian Nation, both as neighbors and as partners, in continuing this important work to see that all of the Nation’s rightful belongings are properly and respectfully returned.”

This ceremony is the latest in a series that began in 1995 with the transfer of remains of seven Oneida ancestors and eight associated funerary objects, and additional repatriations are expected as the two organizations continue to partner on the identification of ancestral remains and sacred and ceremonial objects within the museum’s collections.

The Oneida Indian Nation is a federally recognized Indian nation that consists of about 1,000 enrolled members, most of which live in Central New York. Oneida Nation Enterprises employs more than 4,500 people at its ventures, which include casinos, vacation rentals, convenience stores, marinas, and an RV park.