Gi Kay: Nambí Ówingeh Gi Weh Pówá

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EXHIBITION OPENING

OCTOBER 16, 2026 • 10:00 AM

More than 120 years after leaving the Pueblo of Pojoaque, these pottery vessels have returned home. Collected in 1903 and held in museum collections for generations, they came home through repatriation from the University of California, Berkeley and an ethical return from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. This exhibition honors their journey home and the generations of Pojoaque people whose history, knowledge, and connection continue through them.

Coast to coast, the
pots return home

These vessels left the Pueblo of Pojoaque in 1903 and stayed in museum collections for generations. Their return honors the generations of Pojoaque people whose history, knowledge, and connection continue through them.

  • 1903

    Address Address icon

    Collected at Pojoaque

    The vessels are collected and leave the Pueblo of Pojoaque.

  • 123 years

    Block Block

    Held in museums for generations.

  • 2026

    Heart Heart

    Pottery returns home.

    Home at the Poeh Cultural Center. The exhibition opens October 16.

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Two paths home

Repatriation

University of California, Berkeley

4 came home through repatriation.

Ethical return

American Museum of Natural History, New York

4 returned by the museum as an ethical return.

This composite image places George H. Pepper’s 1903 photograph of pottery at Pojoaque within an 1899 view of the Pueblo photographed by Adam Clark Vroman. The overlay shows where Pepper’s photograph was taken in relation to the surrounding Pueblo, with the old Pojoaque church visible in the background.

George H. Pepper’s Field Inventory, Pojoaque, 1903
These handwritten notes document the pottery George H. Pepper recorded while visiting Pojoaque in 1903. His on-site inventory describes twelve vessels, noting their forms and uses, including water jars, storage jars, cooking vessels, and a bowl. The record provides a direct connection between the pottery Pepper encountered at Pojoaque and the vessels that were taken from the Pueblo during his visit.

George H. Pepper’s Account of Pojoaque, 1903
This diary entry records George H. Pepper’s visit to Pojoaque in July 1903 and his meeting with Governor Antonio Montoya. Pepper wrote that Governor Montoya showed him pottery made by his mother, who had died about a year earlier. Pepper recorded purchasing the pottery and arranging for the vessels to be transported from Pojoaque. His account provides an important historical record connecting the vessels directly to Governor Montoya, his mother, and the Pueblo of Pojoaque.