{"id":262544,"date":"2026-03-02T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/?p=262544"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:09:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:09:57","slug":"northern-cheyenne-tribe-reclaims-cultural-belongings-from-um","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/02\/northern-cheyenne-tribe-reclaims-cultural-belongings-from-um\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This is who we are\u2019: Northern Cheyenne Tribe reclaims cultural belongings from UM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Inside the University of Montana\u2019s Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, Donovan Taylor stretched his arms across a wooden conference table holding his phone, which was recording, up to two gray speakers. He furrowed his brow and closed his eyes as he listened to a 1968 recording of a Cheyenne love song.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next to him, Theresa Small, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council, leaned closer to the speakers and cupped a hand to her right ear, trying to hear the drums and singers through the lo-fi audio.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/NorthernCheyenneLoveSong.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sample of  Cheyenne love song<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After months of consultation with the school, a group of about a dozen Northern Cheyenne elders and cultural leaders traveled from the southeastern Montana reservation to the University of Montana in Missoula last week to review and reclaim ownership of dozens of culturally significant items, recordings and documents in the university\u2019s collections. When such belongings are returned to tribal ownership, Indigenous leaders say, community members regain connection to their identity, ancestors and history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey don\u2019t sing like that now,\u201d Taylor, a traditional singer himself, told the group after the song ended. \u201cWe\u2019re losing our culture.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4000\" height=\"2667\" src=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/02252026_Cheyenne_22067_ce.jpg\" alt=\"Casandra Evans\/University of Montana\" class=\"wp-image-262429\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Donovan Taylor traveled from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation to the University of Montana with other cultural leaders to review items in the university&#8217;s collections.  <span class=\"image-credit\"><span class=\"credit-label-wrapper\">Credit:<\/span> Casandra Evans\/University of Montana<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>UM has digitized dozens of audio recordings of Cheyenne songs and interviews with elders, which were originally recorded on cassettes or wax cylinders by anthropologists or professors. But the digitizations are imperfect. Some of the recordings sound slow and garbled, like the speakers are underwater. Others make the voices of Northern Cheyenne elders sound high-pitched, like chipmunks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taylor asked Wallace Bearchum, chair of the Northern Cheyenne Cultural Commission, to play the Cheyenne love song again. He closed his eyes again as drums filled the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to try to learn it,\u201d he said. \u201cBring it back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Universities, museums and other institutions nationwide house Native American ancestral remains, cultural artifacts and belongings. Sometimes, the items have been donated. Other times, an employee may have purchased or unethically obtained tribal belongings for research purposes. It\u2019s often unknown how the possessions were originally taken from tribes, whether they were stolen from graves or traded.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, enacted in 1990 and commonly known as NAGPRA, establishes processes by which tribes can request the return of belongings and ancestral remains from institutions that house them. But in the more than 30 years since it passed, many institutions remain noncompliant with the law. ProPublica reported in 2023 that about half of the institutionally held remains of <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/repatriation-nagpra-database\/\">210,000 Native Americans<\/a> had not been returned.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2023\/12\/13\/2023-27040\/native-american-graves-protection-and-repatriation-act-systematic-processes-for-disposition-or\">new NAGPRA provisions<\/a> strengthened tribal authority in repatriation processes, requiring institutions that receive federal funding to get tribal consent before displaying or providing public access to tribes\u2019 cultural belongings. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taftlaw.com\/news-events\/law-bulletins\/nagpra-2024-revamped-rule-strengthens-process-for-museums-and-universities-to-heal-prior-inequities-and-rebuild-tribal-relationships\/\">New regulations<\/a> also require institutions to consult with tribes on all tribal belongings within a five-year deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Complying with NAGPRA is rarely straightforward. Institutions, which may hold thousands of items, must identify which tribe an item belongs to and contact appropriate people within the tribe to facilitate its return. UM in 2023 hired Courtney Little Axe, the school\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/ictnews.org\/news\/university-of-montana-hires-repatriation-coordinator\/\">first full-time NAGPRA repatriation coordinator and collections manager<\/a>, and during the 2025 legislative session lawmakers passed a state budget that included a <a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/06\/24\/state-budget-includes-new-investments-in-tribal-colleges-repatriation\/\">$367,665 appropriation to UM<\/a> to support repatriation efforts. That money, Little Axe said, was used to establish a student NAGPRA team at UM, with one student repatriation liaison assigned to each tribe in the state.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But most educational and historical institutions in Montana don\u2019t have a full-time role dedicated to repatriation. Montana State University works in conjunction with the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman on repatriation work. A spokesperson for MSU said the university\u2019s sociology and anthropology departments reached out to 14 tribes in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming in 1996, but no claims were made on items in the school\u2019s possession. The Museum of the Rockies, the spokesperson said, has contacted at least 21 tribes since the 1990s and repatriated several items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of Jan. 6, 2025, UM reported having made 83% of more than 200 funerary objects in its holdings available for return to tribes, according to ProPublica\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/repatriation-nagpra-database\/institution\/university-montana\/\">repatriation database<\/a>. MSU reported having made none of the 49 funerary objects in its possession available for return, according to the same data.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bearchum said that since the new NAGPRA provisions were enacted, he\u2019s heard from institutions across the country that possess, and want to return, Northern Cheyenne belongings. The problem, he said, is that the tribe doesn\u2019t have appropriate facilities to receive and store them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe issues are money and manpower,\u201d he said, adding that building a temperature-controlled repository with fireproof displays and security could cost millions of dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inside the social sciences building on UM\u2019s campus Wednesday afternoon, Northern Cheyenne Council member Theresa Small held her hand over a beaded pipe bag displayed on a table alongside other items in UM\u2019s collection.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5673\" height=\"3782\" src=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/02252026_Cheyenne_22079_ce.jpg\" alt=\"Casandra Evans\/University of Montana\" class=\"wp-image-262431\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Teanna Limpy (left) and Courtney Little Axe (right) sign agreements to transfer ownership and stewardship of items in the University of Montana&#8217;s collections to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe on Feb. 25, 2026. <span class=\"image-credit\"><span class=\"credit-label-wrapper\">Credit:<\/span> Casandra Evans\/University of Montana<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHmm,\u201d she said. \u201cThis has come a long way to be here.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tribal elders and cultural leaders walked around the table, examining the items \u2014 a beaded pouch, moccasins, dolls and pipe bags. The designs, colors and materials, they said, tell a story. A bag had been repurposed from a pair of beaded leggings. The soles on a pair of moccasins were made from a <a href=\"https:\/\/americanindian.si.edu\/collections-search\/object\/NMAI_131562\">parfleche bag<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey used everything they could to survive,\u201d Little Axe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bearchum pointed to a pair of green, blue and gold beaded moccasins. The symbols \u2014 representing a tipi, thunderbirds, and the sun \u2014 tell stories of how Northern Cheyenne people hunted and held ceremonies, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful,\u201d he said, looking at the shoes. \u201cOur people are smart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Annie Bement, an elder, pointed to a doll with solid blue leggings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not sure that one\u2019s ours,\u201d she said. Others in the group nodded.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mikaylia Yellowrobe, a UM repatriation liaison for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and Northern Cheyenne herself, stuck a coral-colored Post-it note to the table near the doll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNeeds more research,\u201d she scribbled.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bement, 78, never expected to see items like this in her lifetime. She grew up speaking the Cheyenne language at home, but speaking Cheyenne at school came at a cost. She attended St. Labre Indian School, a Catholic boarding school on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, in the 1950s and 1960s. It was one of <a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/06\/03\/trump-cuts-halt-indian-boarding-school-digitization-effort\/\">hundreds of schools nationwide<\/a> that operated with the explicit mission of assimilation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe were slapped for speaking [Cheyenne],\u201d Bement said. \u201cWe had to put our hands on a table and were hit with a ruler to be punished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Assimilation efforts like those implemented in the boarding school era have contributed to the widespread loss of cultural knowledge and language. Three of the 12 Indigenous languages historically spoken in Montana are considered critically endangered, meaning their youngest speakers are elders who speak the language infrequently, according to a 2020 Montana Budget and Policy Center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montanabudget.org\/post\/tribal-language-preservation-strengthens-communities-but-needs-consistent-funding#:~:text=Montana%20is%20home%20to%2012%20of%20these,a%20large%20number%20of%20tribal%20language%20speakers\">report<\/a>. Bement is one of just 300 fluent Cheyenne speakers alive today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur values, our stories, our history is contained in the language,\u201d Bearchum said. \u201cIt relates to our identity.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles  wpnbha show-image image-alignbehind ts-3 is-3 is-landscape \"\n\t\tstyle=\"\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t<div data-posts data-current-post-id=\"262544\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"248633\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-2025-legislature tag-house-bill-2 tag-indigenous-affairs tag-jonathan-windy-boy tag-nagpra tag-tribal-colleges category-indigenous-affairs type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\tstyle=\"min-height: 0vh; padding-top: 0vh;\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"post-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/06\/24\/state-budget-includes-new-investments-in-tribal-colleges-repatriation\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-343-800x600.png?crop=1\" class=\"attachment-newspack-article-block-landscape-medium size-newspack-article-block-landscape-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"State budget includes new investments in tribal colleges, repatriation\" data-hero-candidate=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-343-800x600.png?crop=1 800w, https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-343-900x675.png 900w, https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-343-600x450.png?crop=1 600w, https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-343-400x300.png?crop=1 400w, https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-343-200x150.png?crop=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw \/ 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw \/ 12)), 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure><!-- .featured-image -->\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/06\/24\/state-budget-includes-new-investments-in-tribal-colleges-repatriation\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">State budget includes new investments in tribal colleges, repatriation<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The state\u2019s budget includes a historic increase in funding for tribal colleges and appropriates more than $367,000 to a team at the University of Montana dedicated to repatriating cultural items to tribes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/nmabie\/\">Nora Mabie<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2025-06-24T16:29:12-06:00\">06.24.2025<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2025-06-26T15:47:35-06:00\">06.26.2025<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<p>Small said hearing elders speak Cheyenne on old recordings \u201cis a treat.\u201d She hopes they\u2019ll be used to educate young people on the reservation. Connecting with history that was once taken from tribal members, she said, is restorative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWithout the ability to see where we came from, we\u2019d be wandering,\u201d Small said. \u201cThis is who we are. This is our identity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Standing before a crowd of Northern Cheyenne community members and university representatives on Wednesday evening, Northern Cheyenne Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Teanna Limpy and Little Axe signed several agreements to establish tribal stewardship and formally transfer ownership of the belongings in UM\u2019s possession to the tribe.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While it has chosen to continue to house the belongings at the university, \u201cThe tribe will now have full authority in what we do, how we handle items, how we store them, how we move them between buildings, and if we educate people using specific belongings or not,\u201d Little Axe said at the signing event. \u201cThis gives the tribe authority over their own story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Limpy told the crowd she hopes the tribe will one day have a museum to house the belongings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is just the first step,\u201d she said, as the crowd cheered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-light-gray-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles  wpnbha ts-2 \"\n\t\tstyle=\"\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t<div data-posts data-current-post-id=\"262544\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-section-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>LATEST STORIES<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"262736\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-montana-insights category-montana-insights type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/03\/75-of-voters-want-montana-to-have-at-least-as-much-federal-land-as-it-does-now\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">75% of voters want Montana to have at least as much federal land as it does now<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Federal land transfer has been a party of the GOP party platform at both the state and national level, but a recent MTFP-Eagleton poll indicates that a majority of Republican voters oppose reducing the amount of land in federal ownership.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/aeggert\/\">Amanda Eggert<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T14:34:54-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T14:35:02-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"262727\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-westerndev category-politics type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/03\/christi-jacobsen-zinke-western-house\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen joins contest for Zinke\u2019s western U.S. House District seat<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Jacobsen made her announcement on Facebook with a campaign video portraying her as both a political outsider and the favorite of Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/tom-lutey\/\">Tom Lutey<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T12:29:26-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T22:45:03-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"262679\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-bob-morris tag-data-centers tag-energy tag-greg-gianforte tag-montana-insights tag-northwestern-energy tag-public-service-commission tag-ryan-zinke tag-steve-daines tag-troy-downing tag-u-s-congress tag-unleashing-energy-task-force category-energy category-montana-insights type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/03\/montanans-want-more-solar-natural-gas-development-are-less-interested-in-new-coal-plants\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Montanans want more solar, natural gas development, are less interested in new coal plants<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The poll results on Montana\u2019s energy mix come as politicians and policymakers grapple with surging electricity demand spurred by investment in artificial intelligence and the data centers that support it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/aeggert\/\">Amanda Eggert<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published updated\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T08:00:00-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After months of consultation with the school, a group of about a dozen Northern Cheyenne elders and cultural leaders traveled from the southeastern Montana reservation to the University of Montana to review and reclaim ownership of dozens of culturally significant items, recordings and documents in the university\u2019s 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Cheyenne elders and cultural leaders traveled from the southeastern Montana reservation to UM to reclaim ownership of dozens of culturally significant items, recordings and documents in the university\u2019s 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