Looking Back, Looking Forward – The Wisdom of Our Elders
From Native Peoples’ first attempts to halt archaeological excavations in the 1800s to the most recent battle over NAGPRA’s regulations, the journey to return Ancestors and their belongings has been a long, winding road. Along the way, Elders have served as both guide and North star. In this talk, Chip will walk up to the crossroads where many repatriation journeys converge, drawing on the teachings of these Elders to reflect on how far we have come, and to find the strength and vision needed to continue on.
Speaker
Chip Colwell is the founding editor-in-chief of SAPIENS, a digital anthropology magazine of the Wenner-Gren Foundation. From 2007-2020, he was the Senior Curator of Anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and has held fellowships and grants with the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and J. William Fulbright Program. He is the author and editor of 13 books, including Objects of Survivance: A Material History of American Indian Education (with Lindsay Montgomery) and Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America’s Culture, which won six prizes including the 2020 Society for Historical Archaeology James Deetz Book Award. His essays and editorials have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and many other popular outlets.
About the Conference
The Association’s “10th Annual Repatriation Conference: Igniting Change” continued our longstanding legacy to provide comprehensive training and expertise at a grassroots level to strengthen our collective futures. The 10th Annual Repatriation Conference was hosted by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe at their Paragon Resort in Marksville, Louisiana on February 25, 26 & 27, 2025.
The theme Igniting Change reflected the Association’s commitment to sparking meaningful progress in repatriation efforts. By addressing the harms of the past and pushing for accountability and collaboration, the Association inspired transformative change in the way institutions engage with Native Nations. This Conference focused on creating new pathways for collaboration, implementing updated laws and regulations, and ensuring the return of Ancestors, their burial belongings, and sensitive cultural heritage.
The Conference was an intensive training experience and called upon our collective courage to spark respectful and collaborative repatriation practices that recognize Native Peoples as the true holders and carriers of their own diverse cultures.
Together, we ignited profound change as we recognized the harms of the past and actively worked together to tend our new fire.
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