By Erin Hurley
Content Warning: This article contains discussion of institutionalized violence against Indigenous people and their remains.
The Puget Sound Museum of Natural History is currently in possession of at least six ancestral remains from the Indigenous people of what is now called the United States and Canada. The Museum is currently working to return these remains to their respective Tribes, but does not disclose specific names or Tribes out of concern for privacy. Museum Director, Professor Kena Fox-Dobbs is relatively new to the role, having been appointed to the position in 2023 and is coming at the tail-end of the work being done to return stolen ancestors.
Fox-Dobbs highlighted the “Repatriation & Rematriation At The Puget Sound Museum” webpage, which chronologically details the Museum’s possession of ancestral remains and is composed of various faculty voices from campus. According to the website, the museum accepted 28 sets of remains over a 50-year span, from 1925 to 1975. The authors note that “in contrast to institutions like the Smithsonian, ancestors did not come to the Puget Sound Museum as the result of active research programs.” Instead, the remains were brought to the museum by professors, staff and community members. The authors go on to say that “the Puget Sound museum accepted ancestral remains without questioning their right to do so.”
In 1990, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed, which dictated the guidelines for museums and institutions receiving federal funds on how to properly return stolen ancestors and culturally related artifacts to their homes. According to the Puget Sound Museum of Natural History website, it was not until 2005, when students found ancestral remains in a museum storage closet, that the process of returning them began. The website details how the museum followed the guidelines set by the NAGPRA. Professor Kristin Johnson of the science, technology, health and society department explains that the Museum has consistently given tribal communities the final say in “ancestor-determinations”. She describes this as evidence of the “good-faith attempt to adopt and follow (and even go beyond) both legal and ethical norms that developed within museums by the late twentieth century.”
At this point, all the appropriate points of contact for the outstanding remains have been found, and Fox-Dobbs says, “the doors of communication are open.” According to the website, “the museum is awaiting word regarding relatives’ preferred date for the return of the one ancestor from the lands currently known as Oregon, and is in contact with First Nation administrators for guidance on how to return five ancestors to what is presently known as Canada.”
Johnson explained in an email that “there are ultimately two reasons some ancestors still remain in the museum: 1) the PSM has made a point of awaiting community readiness to reinter ancestors, and 2) Canada does not have a NAPGRA process, so figuring out the process for First Nation ancestors has been slower.”
The University’s unethical acquisition of Indigenous remains is not the only example of Puget Sound’s history of harmful actions toward Indigenous peoples. Groups and people at the University also had ties to the Cushman Boarding School, which operated in Tacoma from 1860 to 1920. Like many other similar institutions in the U.S., the school’s goal was to assimilate Indigenous children into white society and strip them of their traditional values and culture. This included the erasure of their native languages and dress. Children from communities across the northwest and Alaska were forced to attend the school.
In 2021, the Multi-Identity Based Union (MIBU) published an Instagram post providing a brief overview of the University’s ties to the Cushman Residential School. This was followed by a statement from the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, describing the University as being “committed to examining our own institutional history in this regard.” The initial research from a member of MIBU revealed an article from a 1916 copy of The Trail that connected the University’s Y.M.C.A. chapter to work at the Cushman Boarding School. Further research found that multiple articles from various editions of The Trail used racist remarks to describe the work.
Sydney Maysmith (‘24) was motivated by these findings, and she worked on a project to officially document the University’s involvement with the Cushman Boarding School. She used the University archives, including old editions of The Trail, to create a timeline of the relations. However, because of the limitations imposed by access only to campus resources, she feels that she was not able to paint a complete picture. “That was a big hurdle, and I don’t think we necessarily jumped over that hurdle. I think that kind of put a stopper on the project in a sense,” she says. Maysmith hopes that future students will undertake the project and dive even deeper, introducing more sources from a broader scope. She also hopes for the University to recognize this history. “To put it super blatantly, just acknowledge what you’ve done, and don’t hide it,” Maysmith says. Ideally, she would like the University to publicly publish her timeline project on the website. “I think the university needs to have some very official language talking about our involvement with obviously with these remains that they found but then also with Cushman Boarding School.” While Vice President Lorna Hernandez Jarvis made a community wide statement on the connection in 2021, there has been no official update from the University since then.
The University has been complicit in the systemic oppression of Indigenous peoples who have stewarded these lands for thousands of years in the Puget Sound region and beyond. Across the globe, institutions like churches and universities are discovering Indigenous remains, an odious colonial legacy. Puget Sound has contributed to these grievances, and campus community members are working to rightfully return these remains. The University’s ties to the Cushman Boarding School has caused irrevocable harm to Indigenous communities. The work of students and faculty members has shed light on the University’s harmful institutional practices, and steps have been made towards amends, but there is still much work to be done. We’d like to prompt our readers to listen to Indigenous voices, peruse the archives, and do their own research.