ON Wednesday, Aug. 6, Leni Leon, executive director of the NMI Museum of History and Culture, told Variety that a partnership with Hawai‘i’s Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum will result in the “rematriation” of artifacts from the Marianas that were stored in Hawai‘i at the turn of the century.
The artifacts returning to the CNMI are part of the Hornbostel Collection, named after Hans G. Hornbostel, a U.S. Marine who was hired by the Bishop Museum in the 1920s to collect artifacts and other objects from the Marianas. The collection he amassed totals over 10,000 artifacts, including latte stones from Rota and Guam.
This is the same collection that the Bishop Museum allowed some CNMI residents and artists to view in 2024 while they were in Honolulu for the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture.
Leon said there is not a set date yet for the return of the latte stones taken from Rota, but as early as Aug. 12, the first phase of artifacts could arrive on island. These include slingstones, beads, sinahi, pottery sherds, and sinkers.
Leon said that when the artifacts arrive, they will be housed at the NMI Museum, where they will “become part of the permanent exhibit after proper accessioning and cataloging in accordance with the NMI Museum’s new collection management procedures.” The public will be able to view the returned artifacts afterward, Leon added.
Variety first became aware that the Bishop Museum was returning artifacts after the museum posted about the “rematriation” on its Facebook page. The museum states that rematriation is a “movement focused on restoring Indigenous peoples’ relationships with their ancestral lands and cultures.”
“The return of these pieces to the Mariana Islands fortifies a multi-year partnership between Bishop Museum, Guåhan, and the Northern Mariana Islands to collaborate through Bishop Museum’s Te Rangi Hīroa Curators and Caretakers Fellowship program and other initiatives,” said Healoha Johnston, Bishop Museum director of Cultural Resources and curator for Hawai‘i and Pacific Arts and Culture.
When Variety was allowed to tour the collection in 2024 on the grounds of the Bishop Museum, this reporter was able to handle a special display that included dozens of slingstones, adze heads, stone sinkers, a sinahi necklace, multiple mortars and pestles, and a grinding stone.
Of note were two pottery samples from Guam: one featured a carving of humans, while the other depicted geometric designs.
On Saturday, Aug. 9, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., the Bishop Museum will host a special ceremony to begin the phased return of artifacts in front of the latte stones, which currently sit on the museum campus.
According to the museum’s Facebook page, a livestream will be available: https://tinyurl.com/LatteLivestream
In 2024 Variety was able to see dozens of slingstones from the Hornbostel Collection.
This latte, which is separate from the Hornbostel Collection, came from Rota. The Marianas residents who were in Hawaii for FestPac 2024 gathered around it for a photo. From left, Jack Diaz, Eva Cruz, Jason Aldan, Tyler Warwick, Martin Naputi, Erlinda Naputi, and Bishop Museum’s Sarah Kuaiwa.
Tyler Warwick, Eva Cruz, and Martin Naputi examine Marianas artifacts that are part of the Hornbostel Collection.
Upper row, a few stone mortars. Second and third row, stone sinkers. These artifacts were all taken from Rota.
