{"id":92313,"date":"2019-10-08T06:18:09","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T06:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/artifacts-taken-from-mesa-verde-are-coming-home\/"},"modified":"2019-10-08T06:18:09","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T06:18:09","slug":"artifacts-taken-from-mesa-verde-are-coming-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/artifacts-taken-from-mesa-verde-are-coming-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Artifacts taken from Mesa Verde are coming home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Shortly
Shortly after being discovered in the 1870s, the ruins and artifacts around what is now Mesa Verde National Park were subject to looting. This photo of Cliff Palace was taken in 1891 by Gustaf Nordenski\u00f6ld, a Swedish researcher who sent hundreds of items to Europe.<\/span>Courtesy of Mesa Verde National Park Archive<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After more than 100 years in a museum in Finland, the ancestral remains of Native American tribes that once called the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park home are coming back to Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

Last week, it was announced human remains and funeral objects from the ancestral Puebloan people, which were unearthed by a Swedish researcher in the 1890s and sent off to Europe, would be returned as part of an agreement between the United States and Finland.<\/p>\n

The news has been lauded by Native American tribes, who can finally put to rest their ancestors who were disturbed all those years ago. And, it sends a message of hope that other remains out there, scattered across the globe, can one day return.<\/p>\n

Bernadette Cuthair, director of planning and development for the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, said news of her ancestors coming home hits hard. For years, people have been looting and grave robbing her ancestors\u2019 homes, an act she said her people refer to as a \u201cspiritual violation.\u201d<\/p>\n

But finally, it feels like there\u2019s a push to put right mistakes in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like an awakening,\u201d she said. \u201cAny human remains are very sacred to us. And we have to make it right again.\u201d<\/p>\n

A foreigner abroad<\/div>\n

The vast cliff dwellings and ruins at what is now Mesa Verde National Park were first discovered by the Western world in the 1870s by the Hayden Survey, one of the first and most extensive expeditions into the American West.<\/p>\n

Almost immediately, artifacts from the ancestral Puebloan people, who inhabited the region from about 900 to 1250, were exploited and pillaged.<\/p>\n

\"Gustaf
Gustaf Nordenski\u00f6ld, a Swedish researcher, arrived in Southwest Colorado in 1891 and conducted the first scientific study of what is now Mesa Verde National Park. However, he left behind a complicated legacy.<\/span>Courtesy of Dr. Gustaf Arrhenius and the Nordenski\u00f6ld family<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In 1891, a Swedish researcher, Gustaf Nordenski\u00f6ld, who was staying in Denver, caught wind of a lost civilization of cliff dwellings in Southwest Colorado and took the train down to Durango to see for himself. Awed by what he found, Nordenski\u00f6ld set out to meticulously document and record his findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe thought this was a civilization that ought to be documented, that it was a story that ought to be told,\u201d said Judith Reynolds, a Durango resident who wrote a biography about Nordenski\u00f6ld in 2006 with her husband, David.<\/p>\n

Nordenski\u00f6ld was concerned about all the looting and black market sales, and fearing for the ruin\u2019s preservation, he started collecting artifacts himself. Through a series of shipments, the young scientist in his early 20s sent hundreds of tools, pottery and even human remains in crates to Europe.<\/p>\n

But Reynolds said word started going around Southwest Colorado that a foreigner was stealing artifacts and cutting into the black market trade. While Nordenski\u00f6ld was taking his last shipment to the train depot for transport, the situation had reached a fever pitch, and he was arrested.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt became an international story,\u201d said Reynolds, a longtime contributor to The Durango Herald<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t break a law that doesn\u2019t exist<\/div>\n

The case against Nordenski\u00f6ld was ultimately dropped \u2013 there were no laws at the time that criminalized taking Native American relics.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it just disappeared,\u201d Reynolds said.<\/p>\n

Nordenski\u00f6ld went back to Europe, and two years later, published the first scientific study about the ruins at Mesa Verde, a piece of work still considered the foundation to any contemporary research at the park.<\/p>\n

But Nordenski\u00f6ld\u2019s legacy, if anything, is a conflicted one.<\/p>\n

\"This
This piece of pottery was taken from what is now Mesa Verde National Park by Gustaf Nordenski\u00f6ld in 1891. It was announced last week Finland will send back to the U.S. human remains and funeral objects taken during that time.<\/span>Courtesy of Museum of Cultures, Helsinki<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

His actions, oddly enough, in part sparked a sentiment that protections needed to be in place for Native American sites, culminating in the Antiquities Act of 1906, the first law that prohibited the looting of archaeological remains, and the establishment of Mesa Verde National Park the same year.<\/p>\n

But still, Nordenski\u00f6ld is demonized by some for sending more than 600 artifacts to a far-off land, where they have remained at the Museum of Culture in Helsinki, Finland, since the early 1900s.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, he\u2019s the good guy because I understand the scientific approach he was about,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cHe was the first person to do a scientific study that recognized the importance of the history there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming home<\/div>\n

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto announced human remains and funeral objects collected by Nordenski\u00f6ld will be sent back to descendant tribes of the ancestral Puebloan people.<\/p>\n

Reports indicate efforts to return the Mesa Verde artifacts started in 2016, when tribes associated with the park began working with Finland.<\/p>\n

Clark Tenakhongva, vice chairman of the Hopi Tribe, told The Associated Press the items should be received early next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we\u2019ll work together as the various tribes that have interest in them,\u201d Tenakhongva told AP. \u201cAnd how we process them will be the most carefully thought out plan so that we don\u2019t do any more harm than what\u2019s already been done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Human remains and funeral objects will ultimately be reburied near the grounds where they were unearthed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to be returned there so they can (safely) return to the spirit world, in the next world,\u201d he said. \u201cHopi always believe, like most cultures and people, when you pass on you\u2019re going to return to God or Jesus. And we return back to the hands of the creator who brought us here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally at peace<\/div>\n

In Native American culture, when the human remains of their ancestors are unearthed and sent off to a museum or lab, that person\u2019s spirit becomes trapped on this earth, unable to take the next step into the afterlife.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an uneasiness,\u201d said Ernest House Jr., a Ute Mountain Ute member who previously served as director for the Colorado Commission for Indian Affairs. \u201cThere\u2019s a step not completed or fulfilled when those remains are kept outside tribal communities in storage boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we want them returned and buried.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe commended news of the repatriation and the \u201chonorable, humanitarian efforts\u201d of associated tribes. And Cristy Brown, spokeswoman for Mesa Verde, said staff will work with tribes on reburials and ceremonies to take place in the park.<\/p>\n

House said the announcement this week highlights the importance of repatriation issues on a national level and provides an example to other countries that may have Native American archaeological items \u2013 a problem, he said, that is widespread.<\/p>\n

Native American remains have been more exploited than any other culture, House said. Years ago, for example, Mesa Verde National Park had a mummified ancestral Puebloan person on display. While there may be an educational aspect, House said, exploiting the remains of the people who once lived on these lands can be hurtful and culturally insensitive to descendant tribes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019re tired of that,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just want these remains to be respectfully returned to the tribes and put back in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

welcome return of human remains, funeral objects removed in 1890s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5738,5740,5737,6041,5736,5886,5814,5735,5808,5897,5992],"tags":[21,13,28,198,173,561,445,629,547],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-92313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cortez","category-frontpage-lead","category-headlines","category-history","category-local-news","category-mesa-verde-national-park","category-native-american","category-news","category-newsletter-lead","category-southern-ute-indian-tribe","category-ute-mountain-ute-indian-tribe","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-history","tag-mesa-verde-national-park","tag-native-american","tag-newsletter-lead","tag-southern-ute-indian-tribe","tag-ute-mountain-ute-indian-tribe"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92313","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=92313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92313"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=92313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}