Tribes and auditors flag storage, loan and chemical‑treatment risks in UC collections

Tribal witnesses and auditors raised concrete care and safety concerns for items in university collections. A tribal NAGPRA coordinator and tribal leaders described instances of long‑term loans that were not tracked, lack of repositories where tribes can privately review items, and possible contamination of remains and objects from historic treatments with arsenic or mercury.

"A list of items is not always enough for meaningful consultations," said a tribal representative, urging universities to provide complete accession files, field notes and any treatment records. Tribes asked for non‑destructive testing protocols and disclosure of known treatments so communities are not exposed to toxic residues during reburial or ceremony.