In today's newscast:
Repatriation to the Central Coast
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is celebrating the return of ancestral remains from Harvard and Yale.
The items were returned under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA.
Kathleen Marshall, the tribe’s NAG-PRA representative, called the moment deeply emotional.
" If you go to a cemetery and you rob from a grave here, you'll go to jail," she said. "If you take a Native person from their spot, their resting place, you end up with a degree."
Marshall says all burial items will be returned to the earth alongside the tribe’s ancestors.
Other repatriated sacred objects may be used in ceremonies, with the approval of the Elders Council.
She says she hopes the four year effort encourages other museums to work with tribes to return their ancestors and cultural items.
That reporting from our partner, KCBX.
Changes to CSU's Basic Needs program
California State University is reimagining its Basic Needs Initiative, which has helped more than 77,000 students every year since its creation a decade ago.
The program is aimed at addressing food insecurity and providing housing support.
But, CalState Vice Chancellor Dilcie Perez says around 25,000 CSU students still drop out in their second or third year because of high costs and the focus of the Basic Needs Initiative is “getting beyond basic.”
”What that says to me is holistic support to students, where we are sharing the responsibility of understanding what might be a barrier or hindrance to students, and proactively putting those in place,."
CalState says it’s waiting on new research to inform how to address current gaps.
That reporting from our partner, LAist.