The O. W. (Bud) Hampton Archive consists of artifacts and documentation collected by Dr. O. W. Hampton in the highlands of Papua over eighteen years (1982–1999). It comprises approximately 1,000 artifacts from daily and ritual life, including many stone tools, accessories, and rare textile materials such as spider-web cloths and looped fiber bags. In addition, there are more than 20,000 color slides, 100 sound recordings on cassette tape made in the field, and meticulous research notes.

This multi-year project has already achieved significant milestones. We successfully documented and conserved the Hampton Archive, an intensive effort involving photographing, cataloging, and rehousing the artifacts along with their associated photographs and research notes. In January 2023 we established a key partnership with Museum Loka Budaya at Universitas Cenderawasih in Jayapura to facilitate the collection’s return to a museum in Papua. To prepare for this, in 2024, with funding from the Asian Cultural Council, we sponsored a visit for two scholars—including Enrico Kondologit, curator of Museum Loka Budaya—to tour twelve museums across the United States that hold Papua materials. The same grant also enabled Sandra Sardjono and Christopher Buckley to visit Papua and interview key stakeholders regarding the repatriation effort.

In 2025 we published a book on the Hampton Archive, Stone and Fiber: Daily Life in the Baliem Valley, Papua, by Dr. Christopher Buckley, with contributions by Dr. Sandra Sardjono and Callie Jerman.

The collection has since been shipped to Museum Loka Budaya, where it will remain for the next few years. Its ultimate home will be a new museum to be built in Wamena, the capital of the newly established Highland Province. Looking ahead, we plan to collaborate with the museum to train young conservators who will care for the Archive long-term.

The return of the collection was facilitated by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in San Francisco. Ali Sungkar, Vice Consul General, underscored the importance of this initiative, noting that “the repatriation involved not only the physical return of the collection, but also the preservation of its scholarly and historical record for future generations.”