Gilcrease Museum Repatriates Native Burial Beads and Headrest
Published Date: 4/18/2025
Notice
Summary
The Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa plans to return eight Native American cultural items, like beads and a headrest, to the tribes connected to them. These items were taken from a burial site in California and will be repatriated starting May 19, 2025. This move respects Native American traditions and shows the museum’s commitment to doing the right thing.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Eight Funerary Items Returned to Tribe
The Gilcrease Museum intends to return eight unassociated funerary objects to a culturally affiliated group, with repatriation allowed on or after May 19, 2025. The eight items are two lots of stone beads, four lots of shell beads, one lot of glass beads, and one tar mat headrest that were removed near Buena Vista Lake in Kern County, California.
Who May Request Repatriation
Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not listed in the notice may send a written request to the Gilcrease Museum to seek repatriation by showing cultural affiliation by a preponderance of the evidence. If competing requests are received, the Museum must determine the most appropriate requestor; joint requests count as a single request, and repatriation may occur on or after May 19, 2025.
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