SALEM — Gov. Tina Kotek is bringing back a task force to inventory American Indian items in collections at state agencies, institutions and public schools.

On Jan. 30 Kotek announced she used an executive order to reestablish the Task Force on Oregon Tribal Cultural Items.

“Tribes should have access to information about cultural items held in storage or on display at state agencies, state universities, colleges and public schools,” Kotek said in the press release. “It is time to renew this important work and continue to strengthen our essential government-to-government relationships with the nine sovereign tribal nations.”

Toby Patrick, member at large on the Board of Trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, said he appreciated Kotek’s executive order calling for accountability from state agencies and counties when dealing with repatriation and protection of tribal sites in Oregon.

“This task force is important because there are a lot of our lands out there that need to be protected from looters, people coming in and being destructive, vandalism, all of those types of things,” he said. “If the county and the state aren’t going to abide by our laws then this executive order helps gear that to where all the tribes can say, ‘We need help in protecting all of our cultural resources.’”

Former Gov. Kate Brown in 2017 established the 16-member task force with representatives from the nine federally recognized tribes within Oregon and with university and government officials. The task force had the job of obtaining information relating to cultural items in storage or on display at Oregon state agencies, state universities, colleges and public schools, according to a press release from the governor’s office. In 2019, Oregon was the first in the nation to report its survey findings of tribal cultural items, but the task force’s work has been paused since 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The task force will consider a process for soliciting information from state public institutions and agencies about items they may have in storage or on display associated with Oregon tribes. It will also develop next steps for determining the provenance, the appropriate custodian, and the appropriate storage or display of such items.

The task force will submit an annual report to the governor beginning in 2025.

The Governor’s Tribal Affairs Office director, in partnership with the Legislative Commission on Indian Services, will convene the task force. Its members will include representatives of the federally-recognized tribes in Oregon, the Legislative Commission on Indian Services, the State Historic Preservation Office, the state’s public universities or colleges, primary or secondary public schools and a state agency director.

The members of the task force will be appointed at a later date.

The reestablished task force has been created through the signing of Executive Order 24-06, which replaces Executive Order 17-12.