8th Annual Repatriation Conference

8th Annual Repatriation Conference:
ReACTivating Our Ancestral Connections

The return of Indigenous Peoples Cultural Heritage requires all of us to remember our connections with the past. Our 8th Annual Repatriation Conference is themed “ReACTivating Our Ancestral Connections” because we must ACT together to reACTivate our relationships with one another and our relationships with the past to create a world where diverse Indigenous cultures and values are lived, protected and respected.

The 8th Annual Repatriation Conference continues the longstanding legacy of the Association on American Indian Affairs to work at a grassroots level in order to strengthen our national and collective futures. This year’s Conference will be held on October 11, 12 & 13, 2022. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi will be hosting at the Four Winds Casino & Resort in New Buffalo, Michigan.

Our Ancestors dreamed about the decisions we would be making today together – and we must not let that work pass to future generations. Native Nations, Spiritual and traditional leaders, anthropologists, archaeologists, museum curators and directors, auction house experts, dealers and collectors, artists, youth, academics, lawyers, preservation specialists, government agencies, foreign entities and institutions and the public must work together to ensure the return of Indigenous cultural heritage.

The Association on American Indian Affairs’ 8th Annual Repatriation Conference will focus on collectively healing from the past and committing to being good Ancestors for future generations to come. We will look to compliance, advocacy, and activism to form strategies and commitments for generational healing. The Conference will provide a welcoming and productive space for truth-telling about the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual burden that Native Nations continue to face as a direct result of their Ancestral remains and objects being stolen and not returned home.

ReACTivating means looking to the Elders, knowledge keepers, and Ancestors that have come before us and remembering the songs, ceremonies, languages, and prayers. We must use those songs and prayers to sing our Ancestors' home and send our collective prayers far into the future for the generations to come. We cannot do this work alone – we must all ACT as good Ancestors now! Time to reACTivate!!