After more than a century, cultural artifacts from Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are being returned to their home islands.
A ceremony was held in Guam this past week to mark the event, and two months ago, HPR was there when Bishop Museum held a ceremony to announce that it had agreed in good faith to return some 10,000 artifacts.
The items in its collection over the decades included iwi, or full skeletal remains, as well as pottery shards. Hawaiʻi quietly returned the iwi earlier.
But on a Saturday in August, dignitaries in Honolulu gathered to pay their respects to acknowledge the large limestone rocks on which, in the Chamorro culture, islanders used to build their canoe hales and other structures.
Building thatch huts on the latte stone structures is not something you see in Polynesia or Micronesia. It was a practice in Guam among the Chamorros that ended with the Spanish colonization.
Guam Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio spoke at the August ceremony, explaining what this return means to the Chamorros of Guam and CNMI.
"The return of these artifacts is in the midst of an era of cultural preservation and revitalization on the island of Guam. Our people have been embarking on a journey over the last few decades towards both a reclamation and an appreciation of our unique cultural heritage and our language," Tenorio said.
"Reclamation provides a path forward for the people of Guam to strive towards cultural resiliency and sovereignty, which are essential tenets recognized as rights of the Indigenous people."
Bishop Museum provided a photo from the 1930s that showed the architectural structures erected next to the museum. There was no explanation at the ceremony as to why the lattes were now in pieces. The stones were part of the Hans Hornbostel Collection.
A team from Guam helped to inventory the artifacts in the '70s. The collection of pottery and spears, and other items was estimated at least 85,000 pieces.
At the time, Guam had no museum or ability to house the archeological treasures, and so its return was not an issue. But it became one after the University of Hawaiʻi Native Hawaiian Pacific Island Museum Institute raised questions about the collection.
Now in 2025, with a museum and proper exhibit space in place, the remaining artifacts, including pottery shards, will start making their way home in batches.
The arrival this past week of the stones in Guam and Saipan marks the legal return and another step toward repairing the cultural wounds from their removal more than a century ago.
The U.S. Navy, which had initially transported the latte stones to Hawaiʻi, facilitated their return, and Matson agreed to provide passage for the latte stones.
"As we move on from this painful chapter of our history, let us now begin to write the next one, one centered on healing," Tenorio added.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 30, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. This story has been adapted for the web.
