On August 19, the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky announced the return of 24 artifacts to the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes based in Oklahoma.
On August 19, the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky announced the return of 24 artifacts to the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes based in Oklahoma.
August 22, 2026
The return of 24 artifacts marked the first time the museum has repatriated belongings to tribes under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). These items were not acquired directly from the tribes but were gifted to the museum in 1930 by the German-American artist Fredrick Weygold. However, in a interview with The Courier Journal, Sirene Martin - assistant curator and repatriation coordinator at the Speed Art Museum - acknowledged that the artifacts came to the museum “through conflicted circumstances” and deserved to be returned to the communities that created them.
Therefore, to prepare for the return of 24 artifacts, the Speed Art Museum began connecting with the tribes in 2023. A year later, representatives from two tribes visited the museum, spending 8 hours examining about 100 sensitive items and determining which ones were qualified for repatriation.
Three years later, 24 artifacts deeply imbued with indigenous culture truly returned to the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. Among them are 3 sacred items: a pipe bag and a turtle amulet - both beaded using historic tribal techniques - along with a Sundance rattle. In addition, there are 21 cultural patrimony - including 5 pairs of moccasins, a coupstick, a Cheyenne cradleboard, a lance and other items - ready to return to the embrace of the native community.
The return of 24 artifacts, along with other such repatriations, is a way for future generations to address the grievances of Native Americans. A notable artifact repatriation event took place in April, when the Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples accepted artifacts from the University of Denver Museum of Anthropology. Two months later, The New York Times also reported that the American Museum of Natural History planned to return 2,700 artifacts to the concerned tribes in compliance with NAGPRA.
Speaking about the return of the 24 artifacts, Sirene Martin said: "The museum having these items or any museum having these sensitive items, their absence is causing a detriment to a community. We are trying to heal that detriment and bring these cultural items and ancestors back into the natural cycle.” The Speed Art Museum’s next plan is to return another 20 artifacts to Native American tribes, thereby contributing to the preservation of indigenous culture.
