{"id":39240,"date":"2022-07-27T09:19:29","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T15:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexico-foundation-to-return-indigenous-items-to-mexico\/"},"modified":"2022-07-27T15:19:29","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T15:19:29","slug":"new-mexico-foundation-to-return-indigenous-items-to-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexico-foundation-to-return-indigenous-items-to-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mexico foundation to return Indigenous items to Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Some
Some of the Mexican antiquities returned to the country by the Albuquerque Museum Foundation are seen during a repatriation ceremony on Wednesday in Albuquerque. (Nora Vanesky\/Albuquerque Museum Foundation via AP)<\/span>Nora Vanesky<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Small, ancient sculptures that have been gathering dust in an Albuquerque storage box are returning home to Mexico, where they are intertwined with the identity of Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n

The Albuquerque Museum Foundation celebrated the repatriation of the dozen sculptures in a ceremony Wednesday. The local Consulate of Mexico will accept Olmec greenstone sculptures, a figure from the city of Zacatecas, bowls that were buried with tombs and other clay figurines that date back thousands of years.<\/p>\n

The event comes as Native, Indigenous and African communities have pushed for museums, universities and other institutions to repatriate items that are important parts of their cultures and histories.<\/p>\n

Foundation President and CEO Andrew Rodgers said returning the sculptures that have sat in storage for 15 years was the right thing to do. Even the foundation\u2019s board agreed. But some outside their organization had a different idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did encounter a couple people who suggested \u2018Oh you should just sell these … \u2018They may not be worth a ton so just keep them\u2019 or \u2018Mexico doesn\u2019t really care about this kind of stuff,\u2019\u201d Rodgers said.<\/p>\n

Mexico, however, very much cares.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate and recognize actions taken by the Albuquerque Museum Foundation to voluntarily return these archaeological pieces back to the Mexican nation,\u201d Consul of Mexico Norma Ang S\u00e1nchez said in a statement. \u201cThey are important elements of memory and identity for our native communities, and we are pleased they will be recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An
An Olmec greenstone figure indigenous to Mexico is among a dozen sculptures the Albuquerque Museum Foundation returned to Mexico in a ceremony Wednesday. The objects were discovered sitting in a box in storage more than five months earlier. (Andrew Rodgers\/Albuquerque Museum Foundation via AP)<\/span>Andrew Rodgers<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The effort to research the artifacts\u2019 origins began more than five months ago when they were discovered sitting in a box in storage. Rodgers\u2019 assistant obtained the original appraisal form from when a donor gifted them in 2007.<\/p>\n

\u201cImmediately alarm bells started going off in our heads\u201d when they saw the label \u201cpre-Columbian,\u201d Rodgers said.<\/p>\n

Playing internet detective, Rodgers found the original dealer. A New York woman in her 90s still had the original notecards from the items\u2019 sale to the donors in 1985. She said they either were purchased on a roadside in Mexico or from dealers in New England.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody had mal intent. I just think there was not much clarity or much transparency in that sort of a practice 30, 40, 50 years ago,\u201d Rodgers said.<\/p>\n

Museum archaeologists at the University of New Mexico and Emory University in Atlanta authenticated the objects before talking with the local Mexican consulate. The Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, which will end up with the figures, believes they were made in western Mexico between 300 and 600 B.C.<\/p>\n

\"This
This shaft tomb figure indigenous to Mexico is among a dozen sculptures the Albuquerque Museum Foundation returned to Mexico in a ceremony. The objects were discovered sitting in a box in storage over five months earlier. (Andrew Rodgers\/Albuquerque Museum Foundation via AP)<\/span>Andrew Rodgers<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There has always been a desire to reclaim pre-Hispanic culture and artwork, said Tessa Solomon, a reporter for the online publication ARTnews who has covered dozens of stories about the topic.<\/p>\n

When Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador became president of Mexico in 2018, his administration made retrieving artifacts a priority. Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto Guerrero has tried to stop sales of cultural items at auction. The efforts spawned a social media movement called #MyHeritageIsNotForSale. It\u2019s estimated more than 5,500 archaeological objects from Mexico have been recovered in the last few years.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Mexican officials) definitely have the most concerted effort to stop auction sales of these pieces,\u201d Solomon said. Placing these objects in a European or American gallery or museum is \u201ccreating these gaps in the art history of these places that is difficult to fill. It shouldn\u2019t be up to other countries to create these histories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campaigns to restore artifacts and artwork to a country or a people are happening worldwide. The U.S. Department of the Interior is weighing changes to a federal law that ensures the repatriation of Native American remains and sacred objects. The proposed revisions include more clarity, specific deadlines and heavier penalties for violating the law.<\/p>\n

Indigenous groups from Canada are calling on the Vatican Museums<\/a> to give up tens of thousands of artifacts and art. The Vatican says the feathered headdresses, carved walrus tusks, masks and embroidered animal skins were gifts to Pope Pius XI.<\/p>\n

Germany and Nigeria signed an agreement on July 1<\/a> to facilitate the return of hundreds of artifacts known as the Benin Bronzes that the British stole from Africa over a century ago. Hundreds of bronzes were sold to museums all over the world. The Smithsonian had 29 at its National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. They will go back to the Nigerian government.<\/p>\n

Other Smithsonian museums have been returning objects to their rightful owners for more than three decades, said Kevin Gover, undersecretary for museums and culture. Determining who owns the items can be a lengthy process.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of these things, remember, are often very old,\u201d said Gover, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. \u201cSo it does require a great deal of research to be sure we understand exactly what it is and exactly how it was acquired … I\u2019m impressed that this Albuquerque Museum (Foundation) had it done in six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

The racial reckoning that started in the U.S. in 2020 likely increased the number of calls for reclaiming antiquities and artwork. In April, the Smithsonian enacted an \u201cethical returns policy\u201d that requires a look at how an object came into the institution\u2019s possession.<\/p>\n

Museums and other art venues must face they are in an age where they will be judged by their actions, not just their artwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public is sort of expecting more from these institutions,\u201d Gover said. \u201cThis is part of maintaining that trust, being able to say we came into possession of this object in an ethical way, in a fair way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodgers, with the Albuquerque Museum Foundation, is taking the ordeal as a key learning opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis experience has especially given us exposure to this world and a better understanding,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I think we\u2019re certainly much better prepared to make sure that we never accept anything we shouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

of the Mexican antiquities returned to the country by the Albuquerque Museum Foundation are seen during a repatriation ceremony on Wednesday in Albuquerque. (Nora Vanesky\/Albuquerque Museum Foundation via AP)Nora Vanesky Small, ancient sculptures that have been gathering dust in an Albuquerque storage box are returning home to Mexico, where they are intertwined with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815,138],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-39240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico","tag-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39240"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=39240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}