The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology intends to return several cultural items — including four sets of pigments, pottery, stones and stone objects — to the Wabanaki Nations, roughly a century after the objects were removed from at least nine burial sites in Maine, according to a Monday notice filed by the National Park Service.
The items were identified to have been connected to the Wabanaki Nations, which are four federally recognized Native American tribes in Maine that include the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation.
The repatriation of these funerary objects — which include blades, gouges, hammerstones, hoes and knives — is required by the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which aims to ensure the protection and return of “human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony.”
Under NAGPRA, any museums that possess Native American funerary objects must inventory and try to determine cultural affiliations of the items by consulting with associated tribes. The museum is also legally required to publicize a notice before repatriating the objects.
According to the notice, the Haffenreffer Museum has determined that these items have been placed “intentionally with or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death or later as part of the death rite.”
“The (Haffenreffer Museum) is committed to complying with the law and its new regulations, ” wrote Robert Preucel, director of the Haffenreffer Museum and a professor of anthropology, in an email to The Herald. “We see it not only as a legal requirement, but also as an ethical responsibility and a way to build new relationships with tribes.”
Preucel stated that the Haffenreffer Museum has been consulting the Wabanaki Intertribal Repatriation Committee, who represent the four tribes within the Wabanaki Nations.
Members of the Wabanaki Nations and each of the four tribes did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
In 2023, Narragansett Indian Tribe officials alleged that the Haffenreffer Museum failed to adequately consult the tribe about the repatriation of 10 human remains and 24 funerary objects, The Herald previously reported. The museum apologized to the tribe and committed to the repatriation process.
The funerary objects detailed in Monday’s notice may be returned on or after Oct. 29.
“Once the notice is posted, there is a period of 30 days during which other tribes may make a competing claim,” Preucel wrote. “After that time, repatriation can proceed.”
