EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo is celebrating the return of its sacred Winter Drum and six other sacred and culturally significant items from the Dutch government.
This week, leaders from the Pueblo traveled to the Netherlands to sign an offical transfer agreement with the Dutch Ministry of Education.
This agreement facilitates the return of the Pueblo’s Winter Drum, along with six other sacred and culturally significant items, back to West Texas, the Pueblo said.
“For over 140 years, these sacred items had been held by the Dutch government and the Dutch Museum of World Cultures. (Thursday morning), a ceremony was held at the Museum of World Cultures in Leiden, attended by officials from the Dutch government, representatives from the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, and leaders from the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo. During this ceremony, the Winter Drum, considered the Pueblo’s most important spiritual icon, was officially returned to the Pueblo,” the Pueblo said.
The Pueblo said it has been seeking the return of the Winter Drum and the other items since they were taken by Dutch explorers in 1882, the Pueblo said.
The Pueblo said the Dutch government had denied official requests for the items’ return, dating back to 1967.
“Today marks a remarkable day for the Pueblo, a day I once thought might never arrive. Over the past 50 years, we had faced numerous rejections, and there were times in the last nine months when the process seemed discouraging,” Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Gov. Michael Silvas said.
“I am incredibly grateful to the Dutch government, the leadership at the Museum of World Cultures, our State Department, Department of the Interior, and our congressional representatives in West Texas and New Mexico for making it possible for the Winter Drum to return home. I want other tribes to know that the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center and the Department of the Interior have dedicated staff committed to the repatriation of tribal cultural objects and relics. Many people worked tirelessly to assist us, and for that, I can only say, ‘Thank you,'” Silvas continued.
After what the Pueblo is calling a concerted effort during the past nine months invovling the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Interior Department and local congressional leaders, the Dutch goverment agreed to return the items back in January.
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