UC Berkeley has nearly 500,000 tribal artifacts and remains. It isn’t giving them back quickly
The University of California at Berkeley has nearly 500,000 Native American artifacts and remains in its possession, yet it has returned just a fifth of that to tribes, the result of inadequate policies and oversight, according to a state audit released Thursday.
State and federal law establishes the requirement that Native American graves be protected, and that Native American human remains and cultural objects in university possession be returned to recognized tribes with a traceable connection to them. The University of California system has hundreds of thousands of such remains and artifacts in its collection.
The state audit looked at three universities, UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Davis, and found that each campus takes a different approach when being responsive to those state and federal laws.
The report found that UC Berkeley engages in a series of actions that delay the process of returning remains and artifacts, such as requiring additional evidence of tribal affiliation beyond what tribes submitted and requiring written support from all consulted tribes on the proposed disposition of remains before handing them over.
As a result, though UCLA has returned 96 percent of its total remains and artifacts to Native American tribes, UC Berkeley has returned just 19 percent. UC Davis is in the process of repatriating 89 percent of its inventory of remains and artifacts.
“The university’s Office of the President allowed these inconsistencies to persist by failing to provide adequate guidance to the campuses and oversight of their practices and decision-making,” wrote State Auditor Elaine Howle in a letter accompanying the audit.
Howle said in her letter that the university failed to adequately include tribal perspectives when crafting repatriation policy, resulting in a delay in the timeline in order to get those perspectives.
“Nevertheless, the draft policy we reviewed does not create the consistency across the campuses required by (state repatriation law),” Howle wrote.
The audit also found that neither the campus nor systemwide oversight committees have enough tribal representation to comply with state law “to ensure balance between university and tribal representatives,” according to Howle’s letter.
University of California President Janet Napolitano, in a response to the audit, said that she agreed with its findings. She wrote that the university system would issue its final policy on repatriation and disposition of Native American artifacts and remains by August, and that she would appoint re-constituted committees, with better tribal representation, by November.
“The university understands the need for a stronger policy to better effectuate repatriation of Native American human remains and cultural items, and to improve our relationships with Native American communities,” Napolitano wrote.