Inclusive and ethical stewardship of movable cultural heritage in museums and repositories is especially important with items that are subject to repatriation procedures. Collaborative partnerships between Indigenous communities and cultural heritage stewards can offer creative methods to resolve issues surrounding safety, security, preservation, and ritual treatment of these items. There is a strong global need for cross-boundary comparative studies to identify common challenges and innovative, inclusive strategies that transcend the variable legal landscape. In this paper, we describe case studies from California, USA and southern Taiwan that overcame potentially conflicting situations and successfully crafted Indigenous-led solutions to local problems. The outcomes were revitalization and reconnection of communities with their movable cultural heritage, as well as a transferable ethos and methods for Indigenous-centered strategies.