A Notice of Intended Repatriation of Cultural Items has been published in the Federal Register.  

To request repatriation on the above notice, we have provided template request for repatriation/claim letters below for your convenience. Please contact the Megon Noble, Repatriation Coodinator (mnoble@ucdavis.edu) if you have any questions.

Template Repatriation/Claim Letter

The Notice includes the following: 

A total of 32 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. The 32 sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony are baskets. The University is unaware of any treatment of the sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony with pesticides, preservatives, or other substances that represent a potential hazard to the objects or to persons handling the objects.

There are four baskets (CHM-362, 363, 364, 365) that were purchased by C. Hart Merriam in 1900 from near the Klamath River. There are eight baskets (CHM-353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360) where the date and circumstances of C. Hart Merriam's acquisition is unknown. Original documentation indicated the items are from the Lower Klamath River. There are six baskets (CHM-1151, 1152, 1201, 1202, 1203, 1205) where the date and circumstances C. Hart Merriam's acquisition is unknown. Larry Dawson (UC Berkeley lecturer c.1980s) attributed these baskets as Yurok or Karuk. There are 10 baskets (CHM-342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 352) which were purchased by C. Hart Merriam in 1910 from an unnamed Yurok woman near “Requa, Klamath mouth” in Del Norte County. Three baskets (CHM-339, 340, 341) were purchased by C. Hart Merriam in 1921 from an unnamed woman near “Stone Lagoon in Humboldt County. One basket (CHM-361) was purchased by C. Hart Merriam in 1901 in San Francisco. Merriam attributed this item to the Yurok near Klamath River.