The Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM) has received funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the “Going Home: Returning Material Culture to Indigenous Communities Project.” The project will help facilitate the return of culturally significant items to tribal museums and/or cultural centers.  

In addition to providing financial support to tribes seeking the return of cultural items, the Going Home project will focus on raising public awareness about the importance of returning culturally significant items to Indigenous communities, building relationships between tribal museums and non-Native collections institutions and individual collectors, as well as building the capacity of tribal museums to seek loans and gifts of culturally significant items.    

The project is led by an Advisory Council of museum professionals, tribal leaders, and attorneys with expertise in repatriation, gifts, and museum loans. Walter Richard “Rick” West, a member of ATALM’s governing board and President Emeritus of the Autry Museum of the American West, is leading the project.  

“We are grateful to the Mellon Foundation for its support of this important project and are committed to working with tribal communities and collecting institutions in a respectful and collaborative way,” said West. “It is our hope that the Going Home Fund will remove any financial and institutional barriers that have prevented the return of material culture to the originating communities. We look forward to facilitating long-overdue homecomings and enhancing the cultural continuity of Native communities.”  

To learn more about the project, visit https://www.atalm.org/node/571