Page 147 - Knighted_2018

The sense of mutual respect between the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the National Park
Service does not extend to the third entity which holds a significant portion of culturally
important artifacts from Ocmulgee: the Smithsonian Institute. Since the first three years of
excavations under Kelly in the 1930s occurred before the site became a national monument, the
items and human remains unearthed during this period belong to the Smithsonian, not the NPS.68
The Smithsonian Institute continues to rely on outdated historical and anthropological findings to
justify what is, in essence, cultural theft. Throughout the lengthy repatriation process at
Ocmulgee National Monument the Smithsonian consistently delayed the process for myriad
reasons. After the passage of NAGPRA, the Smithsonian Institute's repatriation program was so
far removed from historic reality that the only nation contacted concerning Ocmulgee artifacts
was the Cherokee Nation. When asked about why the Muscogee Nation was not contacted, a
Smithsonian representative informed the NPS that “Creeks were Oklahoma (Midwestern)
Indians.69 The process for repatriation started out on a bad foot, and it only got worse from there.

Even after the 1990 adoption of NAGPRA, and its mandatory time frames, the Muscogee
Nation was not contacted regarding possible Native American collections by the Smithsonian
Institute until five years later. 1995 marked the first time that workers in the Creek Nation's
cultural and historic offices became aware of the full inventory from Ocmulgee National
Monument held at the Smithsonian.70 During these early years in the process for repatriation no
efforts were made to arrange a consultation, and both sides were mired in the inertia of
understanding their obligations under the new legislation. The Muscogee Nation set about the
task of creating a dedicated office to handle repatriations71, while the Smithsonian Institute

68 Davis, interview by author, February 1, 2018.
69 Davis, interview by author, February 1, 2018.
70 Spain, interview by author, Macon, February 02, 2018.
71 The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is fortunate enough to have the financial resources to fund a repatriation program,

142