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Museums

Peabody
Museums

Harvard Peabody Museum to Return a Gitnagun’aks House Post to Gitxaała Nation in Latest Repatriation Effort

Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology signed an agreement last month to return a house post to the Gitxaała Nation, a First Nations government located at Kitkatla, British Columbia, per a Jan. 25 press release from the tribal group.

Brenda Tindal Courtesy
FAS

Brenda Tindal Appointed Harvard FAS Inaugural Chief Campus Curator

Brenda D. Tindal will serve as the inaugural chief campus curator for Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences starting Feb. 13, FAS Dean and University President-elect Claudine Gay wrote in an email Wednesday.

Alutiiq Museum Kayak
Museums

Alutiiq Museum Kayak

Harvard's Peabody Museum has transferred ownership of an ancestral Alutiiq, or Sugpiaq, kayak to the Alutiiq Museum, a cultural museum and tribal repository in Kodiak, Alaska.

Commencement Crowd

Ten Stories That Shaped 2022

In 2022, Harvard saw a multitude of transitions. The school finally lifted most of its last Covid-19 mandates and held in-person Commencement ceremonies for not one, not two, but three Harvard College classes. Across the top ranks of Harvard’s leadership, familiar faces exited the stage, including University President Lawrence S. Bacow, who will be succeeded by Claudine Gay, the first person of color and second woman to be named to Harvard’s top post. Here, The Crimson looks back at the 10 stories that shaped 2022 at Harvard.

Harvard Museum of Natural History
Museums

Scientists, Artists Discuss Henry David Thoreau Plant Collection

A panel of artists and scientists involved in creating an exhibit on the plant collection of Henry Thoreau explored the intersection between art and botany as a means to inspire conversations about climate in a Harvard Museum of Natural History event on Thursday.

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
Race

Harvard Pledges to Return Hundreds of Native American Hair Samples Housed at Peabody Museum

Harvard’s Peabody Museum on Thursday pledged to return hundreds of hair samples taken from Native American children who were enrolled in government-run schools in the 1930s and apologized for keeping the clippings in its collections.

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
Museums

Descendants Call for Immediate Return of Human Remains in Harvard Museum Collections, Criticize University Report

Harvard agreed to return the remains of 19 likely enslaved individuals to their descendants in a report published last week. But some descendants of enslaved individuals and Native American scholars voiced concerns about Harvard’s lack of specificity on repatriation timelines.

Peabody
Museums

Harvard Pledges to Return Human Remains of Enslaved People to Descendents

Harvard University agreed on Thursday to return the human remains of 19 individuals who were likely enslaved to their descendants, accepting recommendations from a committee tasked with examining how the school should treat human remains in its museum collections.

Peabody
Museums

‘It’s Meant Everything’: Tomahawk of Chief Standing Bear Returned from Harvard’s Peabody Museum to Ponca Tribe

On June 3, after pandemic-induced delays, a delegation of Ponca Tribe representatives traveled to Cambridge for a repatriation ceremony for Ponca Tribe chief Standing Bear’s pipe tomahawk.

Lanier Appeal Hearing
Museums

Mass. Supreme Court Allows Emotional Distress Claim Against Harvard to Proceed in Suit Over Photos of Enslaved People

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned a lower court’s dismissal of Tamara K. Lanier’s emotional distress claim against Harvard, according to a decision released Thursday morning, allowing Lanier to continue to seek damages from the University.

Empty Chamber
City Politics

Cambridge City Council Calls On Harvard to Return Human Remains of Enslaved People, Native Americans

Following reports last week that Harvard University holds the human remains of at least 19 individuals who were likely enslaved and nearly 7,000 Native Americans, the Cambridge City Council adopted a policy order urging the University to relinquish the remains to their descendants during a Monday meeting.

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
Museums

Harvard Holds Human Remains of 19 Likely Enslaved Individuals, Thousands of Native Americans, Draft Report Says

Harvard University holds the human remains of at least 19 individuals who were likely enslaved and almost 7,000 Native Americans — collections that represent “the University’s engagement and complicity” with slavery and colonialism, according to a draft University report obtained by The Crimson.

Peabody
Visual Arts

After Agreeing to Repatriate Ponca Tomahawk, Peabody Museum Awaits Visit from Tribal Leaders

The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology removed a pipe tomahawk that once belonged to Ponca chief Standing Bear from its collections last September, after calls for the museum to return the tomahawk to the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma garnered international attention.

Peabody
Museums

Peabody

Harvard’s Peabody Museum has agreed to return a pipe tomahawk that once belonged to Ponca chief Standing Bear to tribal leaders.

Harvard Art Museums
Museums

Harvard Art Museums Implement 'ReFrame' Initiative

The Harvard Art Museums have made progress in implementing their “ReFrame” initiative, which was announced last fall. The initiative aims to bring previously unseen collections out of storage and reframe existing curations.

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