C.A.R.E.

The Caring About and Repatriating Everything Workshop and Community Fellowship

 Program Goals and Offerings

  • The workshop will be tailored to meet the expressed needs and interests of the fellows, from providing a foundational review of repatriation under NAGPRA, to navigating more complex repatriation cases, or building strategies for tackling museum bureaucracies. The Workshop will connect fellows to repatriation experts with legal and procedural knowledge of NAGPRA and Cal NAGPRA. Fellows will also receive templates and other resource materials, including documents to assist in applying for NAGPRA Grants.

  • In anticipation of the reunification of cultural items with their communities, the workshop will provide conservation tools, supplies, and instructional materials that can be used for a multitude of projects. Fellows will also be prepared to start applying for cultural heritage preservation grants such as the IMLS Collections Assessment for Preservation Program.

  • Together we will build a network of community members and allied heritage professionals to support each other with our preservation goals. This broader network can connect communities with each other and with cultural heritage care specialists (i.e. conservators, repatriation practitioners, archivists, etc.). This cohort-building will feed into a self-sustaining process of peer-training and outreach.

  • The CARE program seeks to develop, improve, and increase collection stewardship models that prioritize tribal leadership, perspectives, and needs. Collaborators and fellows will have opportunities to share their expertise, experience, research, tools and resources throughout the workshop. We believe in helping each other.

  • Regularly and intimately caring for our belongings on tribal lands enables Indigenous peoples to share cultural, linguistic, ecological, historical, and family knowledge between generations.

The 2026 Application is NOW OPEN!

PLEASE REVIEW THE PROGRAM DETAILS AND THE PROGRAM GOALS AND OFFERINGS BELOW.

YNM invites you to apply to the 2026 CARE Workshop and Community Fellowship!

CARE will be hosted at Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Cultural Center from October 14-16th, 2026.

Please review the information below for program details and eligibility.

Deadline to Apply will be 11:59 pm Tuesday August 18th, 2026.

Program Details

  • The workshop consists of 6 days: 3 days in-person and 3 days online.

    The in-person sessions will take place on October 14-16th and will be hosted at the Owens Valley Paiute-Shoshone Cultural Center in Bishop, California. The online sessions will be scheduled in collaboration with the fellows.

    Fellow Mentors

    2022 was the first year for CARE and fellows from that first cohort returned to mentor the 2023 cohort. This year, fellows from 2025 cohort will return to mentor the 2026 cohort and mentors from 2024/2025 will return to lead sessions.

    Our hope is to continue this tradition of building CARE from within the CARE community.

    Returning Fellow Mentors play a meaningful role in growing the CARE community and are provided with funding.

  • CARE recognizes the expertise with cultural heritage preservation that already exists in Native communities. As such, it prioritizes Indigenous perspectives, specific needs, philosophies, and approaches. The series agenda and curriculum will be driven by the particular needs of the fellows as communicated by them. The Project Leads and Collaborators have decades of cumulative experience in social justice organizing and cultural heritage care both within and outside of traditional institutional structures.

    The program content will be guided by the fellows and may cover:

    Strategic navigation of the repatriation process

    Cultural resources care,

    Tours of collections care spaces,*

    On-site assessments of select collection storage areas.*

    *In coordination with Fellows' interests and host site when possible.

  • The program is suited to participants such as:

    Tribal Historic Preservation Officers

    Tribal cultural department staff

    Students and community members focusing on cultural heritage care

    NAGPRA practitioners

    Members of non-federally recognized tribes are encouraged to apply.

  • Thanks to the generous support of the Mellon Foundation, and in appreciation of the time and knowledge that fellows will bring to the workshop, each fellow will receive a $3000 honorarium and a $3000 supplies stipend to support their community work. Additional funding is also available to cover travel, lodging, technology needs, and child/elder care to facilitate access to the program.

The 2026 CARE applications is NOW OPEN!

Application Link: https://forms.gle/Y9bQ5NX3TBwAizv87

The deadline to apply is Tuesday August 18th at 11:59 pm Pacific Time.

If you have any questions, need a paper application, or need assistance with preparing for the workshop, please contact Diana Terrazas, Program Manager, via email at diana@yourneighborhoodmuseum.org.

Past C.A.R.E. Fellows:

2023 C.A.R.E. Workshop and Community Fellowship

2024 C.A.R.E. Workshop and Community Fellowship

2025 C.A.R.E. Workshop and Community Fellowship

2022 C.A.R.E Community Fellows:

*In-Person Host Site: Chumash Indian Museum

  • Melanie McCavour

    Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, Former Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and Cultural Director 

  • Gabriel Kitchen Jr.

    Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians,

    Council Member and Chair of Cultural Committee,

  • Kelsey Bosch

    Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, Former Cultural Resources Specialist

  • Miguel Luna

    Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, Director of the Tribal Historic Cultural Preservation Department

  • Ronald Montez Sr. 

    Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians,

    Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

  • Audrey Gower

    Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians,

    Tribal Council Member and Cultural Department Coordinator

  • Dayle Bingham

    Chumash Indian Museum,

    Visitors Services and Collections Coordinator

  • Kimberly Johnson 

    Tribal Secretary for the Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians

2025 C.A.R.E Community Fellows:

*In-Person Host Site: Indian Arts Research Center, School For Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico

  • Jeffery Harjo

    Seminole Nation of Oklahoma

    Director of Historic Preservation Office and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

  • Mikalen Running Fisher

    Ph.D. Student at UM Missoula

    Archivist and Curator at the Blackfeet Tribal Historic Preservation Office

  • Ricardo Ortiz

    Pueblo of San Felipe

    Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

  • Koyanna Flotte

    NAGPRA Coordinator at the Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens at the University of Texas at El Paso. Lineal descendant of the communities of La Junta de los Ríos (present-day Presidio, TX–Ojinaga, Chihuahua), Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas

  • Joshua Garcia

    Wyandotte Nation

    Deputy Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

  • Fermin Lopez

    Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

  • Alexis Lucero

    (Pueblo of Isleta)

    Assistant Collections Manager at the

    Indian Arts Research Center, SAR

  • Keely Yanito

    Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

    Program Manager Tribal Historic Preservation Office

  • Toni Gonzalez

    Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

    Cultural Resources Manager

2023 C.A.R.E Community Fellows:

*In-Person Host Site: Kuruvungna Springs Cultural Center & Museum

  • Mandi Campbell Mandi Campbell

    Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

  • Mel Vernon

    San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, Tribal Captain

  • Elaine Garcia

    Museum staff at the Karuk Tribe's People Center Museum

  • Miguel Luna

    Director, Tribal Historic Cultural Preservation Department, 

    Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians

  • Laura Maxcy

    Mesa Grande Band of Diegueño Mission Indians, Cultural Committee Member, Monitor, Filmmaker

  • Audrey Gower

    Tribal Council Member and Cultural Department Coordinator,  Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians

  • Cheyenne Reynoso

    Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy

  • Robert Gomez 

    Tubatulabal Tribe, Chairman

  • Brian (Cisko) Gower

    Tribal Monitor, Youth Outreach Facilitator, Musician

  • Cheryl Martin

    Tribal Senator of the Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, and Board Member of the Chumash Indian Museum

  • Anthony Trujillo

    Mesa Grande Band of Diegueño Mission Indians, Cultural Committee Member, Cultural Monitor

  • Silver Galleto

    Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians, Vice Chairman, & Chief of Operations for Healthcare

  • Clifford Mota, Jr.

    Elem Indian Colony, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

2024 C.A.R.E Community Fellows:

*In-Person Host Site: Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum, and the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs

  • Amanda O'Connell

    Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, Councilwoman

    and Tribal Council Liaison for Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation Repatriation Committee

  • Danielle Christensen

    Bridgeport Indian Colony, Cultural Officer and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

  • Melanie Smokey

    Yomba Shoshone Nation, Education Curator at the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum

  • Bryanna Campbell

    Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, Tribal Monitor

  • Cindy Davis

    Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, Receptionist and Tribal Historic Preservation Department Staff

  • Patty Bayse

    Lovelock Paiute Tribe, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

  • Laura Jaime

    Shiishongna Tongva Nation Corona Band of Gabrielino Indians, Senior Tribal Officer/Tribal Anthropologist

  • Vernon Rogers

    Yerington Paiute Tribe, Cultural Specialist and acting NAGPRA Representative

  • Sarah Brunzell

    Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, Cultural Resources Management Division Manager. Tribal Historic and Cultural Preservation Department

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