DENVER — The Denver Art Museum has claimed it has always embraced efforts to return sacred items to indigenous people, but over the last few weeks the museum has been reacting to allegations of being dismissive and resistant.
Most recently, a TikTok video spurred people to flood the Denver Art Museum’s social media pages with calls for it to return several items that trace to the Tlingit tribe in Alaska.
“These belong to my clan. The Denver Art Museum is being an asshole,” said Birdie Sam in the TikTok video she posted last week.
Sam, who is a member of the Tlingit tribe in Alaska, referred to a Denver Post article in the video that outlined repeated efforts by her people to get the museum to return several items. Some of the items include a rattle and a house partition from the 1840s.
“These items are very, very sacred," Sam said. "They belong to families, and they are used in ceremony.”
Sam cited a quote by the museum’s Native art curator John Lukavic.
“We’re not in the business of just giving away our collections,” Lukavic said to the Denver Post in April. “Nobody is.”
“I felt in my core, how so many tribes were not in the business of having their artifacts stolen," Sam responded. "And that's how so many of these museums acquired their collections, through unethical means."
Lukavic apologized for his words in a posting on the museum’s website. The museum also posted a message on its Facebook and Instagram pages indicating it was in discussion with the tribe for “repatriation.”
“I want to hold off on calling this a win until the items are home,” Sam told 9NEWS. “It means something that they feel as if they have to go into damage control mode and make a statement and address the public's concerns.”
A federal law called the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which passed in 1990, governs the return of indigenous and sacred items when a claim is filed with museums and other entities that have items.
In February, Lukavic appeared on 9NEWS to share how the museum follows recently updated rules relating to the law.
“Museums have an extra level of responsibility to work with tribes, to learn from them, to get information from them and to also listen to them,” Lukavic said on 9NEWS in February.
9NEWS asked the museum for another interview in the wake of the flood of comments. A spokesperson sent a written statement in response to the request:
We appreciate that our community, visitors and members care deeply about supporting a cultural organization that is transparent, honest and operates with integrity, and that they are reaching out with their feedback. We strive to meet those standards in everything we do.
With respect to Indigenous repatriation queries, conversations are underway with Tlingit and Haida tribal leadership regarding artworks, including those discussed most recently in 2017, as well as the requests from 2002 and 2006. The museum has offered its support for repatriation claims for those or any other artworks the tribe wishes to discuss.
The museum is in compliance with NAGPRA, committed to prioritizing and continuing this work in close partnership and collaboration with Native groups and communities, and sharing this work with the public as it progresses.
Interested community members are encouraged to visit the museum’s provenance research page for updates on Indigenous arts and other research into the histories of pieces in our collection. Specifically, details about the museum’s NAGPRA compliance work are included in blogs online by our curatorial staff.
We hope members of the public share any additional information they may have about artworks in the DAM’s collections or contact us with questions at comments@denverartmuseum.org.
If you have any information about this story or would like to send a news tip, you can contact jeremy@9news.com.
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