Chief Pego joins delegation to bring back ancestral remains for May 22 repatriation
7/7/2015 9:00:00 AM - Ziibiwing Cultural Center

By Joseph V. Sowmick, Photojournalist

Ever since the Nibokaan Cemetery was established in 1995 for the explicit purpose of reburying repatriated Native American ancestral human remains and associated funerary objects, a sitting Tribal Chief has never personally retrieved those items.

A repatriation team consisting of Tribal Chief Steven Pego, his wife Mae Pego, Ziibiwing Center Director Shannon Martin, Ziibiwing Curator William Johnson and Tribal Elders Thomasine “Ruby” MeShawboose and Charmaine Shawana made a journey to New York City; Toledo, Ohio; and Dearborn, Mich.

The story of their journey and the May 22 repatriation garnered regional and national media attention from Indian Country Today, USA Today, and the Detroit Free Press. 

This repatriation became history for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan on a national level as this is the first time a sitting Tribal Chief has travelled to several locations to bring ancestors home.

Chief Pego said the mission was to repatriate 41 ancestral human remains from the American Museum of Natural History of New York City, one ancestor from the Toledo Zoological Society and one ancestor from the Dearborn Historical Museum during the week of May 18-22.

Ziibiwing has been working diligently on behalf of SCIT, and in cooperation with the Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation & Repatriation Alliance (MACPRA), to bring home ancestors and their associated funerary objects from the numerous museums, universities and institutions across the country since the passage of the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

“Three months before we went on the trip, Elder George Martin, as the Grandpa Chief of the Midewiwin Society, makes the decisions for Michigan, along with myself as a Midewiwin Chief, and we were chosen to be spiritual advisors for bringing our ancestors home,” Chief Pego said. 

When he and his wife were asked to take the trip to New York City, Chief Pego was honored.

“They wanted to fly us out there, but we wanted to drive out there with the rest of the team to experience the feeling of bringing them back personally,” he said. “It was an adventure and a long ride, and we made it to New York and saw how big the museum is.”

The American Museum of Natural History, located in Manhattan, is one of the largest in the world. The museum complex has 27 buildings that cover two city blocks and boasts 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library.

“You could feel the heavy-hearted spirit of our ancestors and the articles they had displayed,” Chief Pego said. “They had pipes, Midewiwin pelts and other sacred items that you know belonged to not only our Tribe, but tribes across the country… These are spiritual items that were used in ceremonies back in the day and they are displayed in this disrespectful manner.  It made us wonder whose family the items belong to.”

He said the ancestors would experience deep sadness for losing their spiritual items. 

“What would it be like if I passed on and my artifacts were displayed at a museum like this, how would my family feel about it?” he said. “I know someone would speak up and say you can’t display my daddy’s stuff like that. I know these items belong to others and there is a way other tribes can identify them and take their items home to their tribe like we are doing.”

He said he mentioned to Martin the next goal should be to bring back those articles that belonged to them.  

Even though there are no names on the articles, Chief Pego believes the spirit will lead, and the truth will win out and those spiritual items will find their way home.  He personally witnessed Ogitchedaw drums in the museum’s possession with markings that go back to the 1600s.

“I have the greatest respect for the Ziibiwing repatriation team and the work that MACPRA and NAGPRA do to get the ancestors returned to their home,” he said tearfully. “This takes a lot of hard work and traveling across the country. This work also takes a lot of energy because your spirit is so involved with the responsibility of bringing them back. You know how it feels when you leave your home and you just want to get back. So can you imagine how the ancestors long to get back home to the earth… that place where they belong?”

The journey of repatriation for him and his wife was like how they feel when completing Midewiwin ceremonies, he said.

“You feel exhausted in mind, body, and spirit, but you also feel a sense of doing those good things that are people have done for centuries,” he said. “But you know in your heart because it was the right thing to do.”