Repatriation
Jul 9, 2026

UC Berkeley to return ancestral seeds to Pueblo of Isleta

Museum will repatriate 24 cultural items under federal law


July 9, 2026

The University of California, Berkeley will return 24 cultural items, including corn, corn cobs, beans, peas and other seeds, to the Pueblo of Isleta in New Mexico, according to reporting from The College Fix. The items are housed at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology and are being repatriated under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The items were collected between 1940 and 1941 by George F. Carter during field research with Native American agriculturalists in the Southwestern United States.

A June 4 Federal Register notice identifies the items as objects of cultural patrimony with ongoing historical, traditional or cultural importance to the Pueblo of Isleta, according to The College Fix reporting. The notice states the items will no longer be available for public display or scientific research at the museum.

  1. 1.Riley Siegenthaler. The College Fix, .

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