Pojoaque Pueblo Welcomes Repatriation of Century-Old Pottery Vessels

Eight historic pottery pieces returned to the Pueblo of Pojoaque after 123 years away, going on public display in the exhibition "Gi Kay: Nambí Ówingeh Gi Weh Pówá" (Resilience: We Are Home) at the Poeh Cultural Center and Museum.

The clay vessels were originally documented in a 1903 photograph featuring then-Governor Antonio Tapia Montoya, pueblo members, and anthropologist George H. Pepper, who gathered 12 pots from the community. Over several decades, tribal members located parts of the collection held by institutions outside New Mexico, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology in Berkeley, California.

While the location of four vessels from the original photograph remains undetermined, the eight repatriated works formed the foundation of the museum's exhibition. The opening schedule included educational programming, pottery demonstrations, traditional dances, and food service.