University of California president’s office promises return of Native American remains by 2028

By Michelle Bandur

Click here for updates on this story

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) — Native American tribal leaders and lawmakers are urging California universities to accelerate the repatriation of human remains and cultural items that have been stored for decades, following a third state audit criticizing the slow efforts.

“There’s thousands upon thousands, rows upon rows of human remains just sitting in these little, looks like pizza to go boxes, a little bit deeper, like a cake box, just not pink,” said Jack Potter, Jr., chair of the Redding Rancheria.

UC leaders and tribal leaders spoke at a joint legislative oversight hearing Tuesday with the Select Committee on Native American Affairs and the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.

Tribal leaders expressed frustration with the slow progress since the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which required universities to inventory and return the remains by 1995.

“Excuses, excuses. We are tired of them already,” said Lester “Shine” Nieto, chair of the Tule River Indian Tribe of California.

The April audit examined four universities and highlighted the slow pace over a two-year period.

State Auditor Grant Parks reported that San Diego may need until 2037, Riverside until 2041, Santa Barbara until 2053, and UC Berkeley until 2089 to return the remains.

UC Provost Katherine Newman, leading the efforts on behalf of UC System’s new president James Milliken, expressed regret.

“I want to begin by reiterating our apology and my personal regret,” Newman said.

She stated that they have a plan to return the remains to tribes by 2028.

“We are in part spurred by the audit and by your interest and concerns and chair Ramos’ support and concern, accelerating all of our attention and bearing down on this,” she said. “It gives me confidence we will meet this goal.”

James Ramos, chair of the Native American Affairs Committee, emphasized the importance of unity in the effort.

“We should all come united around getting those remains back into the ground for proper reburial,” he said. “They have put forward the year 2028 of having compliance with remains; to have them repatriated back is something we’re going to hold them to. It’s something that we’re now thinking about, maybe following up with statute, to ensure that it becomes part of the process that’s there.”

Potter expressed the sentiment of many tribal leaders.

“You would think that we wouldn’t have to be here begging to have our ancestors released,” he said.

When asked by a committee member what has changed over 30 years, Provost Newman said they are spending more money, hiring more people, and collaborating with tribal leaders. UC released this statement Tuesday:

“UC is fully dedicated to meeting our legal, moral, and ethical obligations to consult with Native American tribes and to repatriate ancestral remains and cultural items in a prompt, respectful, and sensitive manner. We acknowledge there is much more work to be done to achieve this. UC recently adopted a range of directives to be taken across the system to improve UC’s oversight, tracking, and transparency. The University also increased resources that will enable UC campuses to accelerate repatriation. As UC continues this critically important work, we welcome further collaboration with state and federal lawmakers and tribal partners on approaches to improve and expedite the repatriation process according to tribal preferences.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.