ALBUQUERQUE – Tribal officials are marking the return of dozens of cultural items to Acoma Pueblo, where leaders have spent years pressing for the repatriation of ceremonial items.
In a statement Wednesday, tribal Gov. Kurt Riley called the items’ return a “great joy and relief.”
They include what he and an attorney described to The Associated Press as six large items and dozens of smaller ones, with perhaps the most significant a sacred ceremonial shield that vanished years ago.
Riley says the shield is similar to one that remains at a Paris auction house more than two years after an international uproar halted bidding on it.
Riley says the now-repatriated shield had been listed for sale at a Montana gallery. The gallery voluntarily turned it over to authorities.
