SAR News:
ALBUQUERQUE — At a joint ceremony Oct. 19, the School for Advanced Research (SAR) will voluntarily repatriate 60 archaeological items of Mexican origin to the Consulate of Mexico in Albuquerque.
The 60 items came to SAR over a 31-year period, from 1941 to 1972. Some were burial related, while others fell outside of SAR’s Indian Arts Research Center’s (IARC) scope in the Native American Southwest. As a result, the items were deaccessioned and IARC staff researched available options for appropriately re-homing the items.
Rather than send the pieces to other U.S. institutions, it was determined they should be offered back to Mexico instead. Through cooperation with the Consulate of Mexico in Albuquerque and Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the pieces were identified by the Mexican government as of interest for repatriation.
“We’re thrilled that these items will return to Mexico where they can be accessed and cared for by the people of that country,” said Jennifer Day, IARC head registrar and project lead. Many of these pieces likely left their archaeological contexts in non-sanctioned excavations. It’s wonderful to know they are going back home.”
“We appreciate and recognize actions taken by the School for Advanced Research to voluntarily return these archaeological pieces back to the Mexican nation,” Consul of México Norma Ang said. “The return of these pieces demonstrates the commitment and ethics of institutions such as SAR in the protection of cultural heritage. Likewise, this delivery highlights the importance of collaboration between institutions and governments to guarantee the return of cultural objects that were illegally taken from a country.”
The Consulate of Mexico
The Consulate of Mexico in Albuquerque represents the interests of Mexico and its citizens in New Mexico and 38 counties in Northwest Texas, visit https://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/albuquerque/
School for Advanced Research
The School for Advanced Research (SAR), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational institution, was established in 1907 to advance innovative social science and Native American art. Its 16-acre residential campus sits on the ancestral lands of the Tewa people in O’gah’poh geh Owingeh or Santa Fe. Visit sarweb.org.