In the previous year, notable advancements were observed as museums, universities, and government agencies worked towards repatriating the remains of thousands of Native American ancestors to tribal nations. This progress followed years of slow advancement that attracted national scrutiny.
Significant changes were evident within the U.S. Department of the Interior, responsible for enforcing the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). This legislation mandates the return of items and remains taken from Indigenous gravesites to the respective tribal nations. Last year, the department, along with its subagencies like the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, repatriated the remains of 1,366 Native American ancestors—a significant fraction of what was in their possession at the beginning of the year. This effort highlighted the department’s acknowledgment of its vital leadership role under NAGPRA, as documented in an internal memo from late 2023. Only the Illinois State Museum, extensively covered by ProPublica, approached similar levels of repatriation by transferring over 1,320 remains excavated from a single site.
The push for repatriation gained momentum following ProPublica’s 2023 reports highlighting failures to adhere to NAGPRA. Interior officials noted in an October 2023 memo that many ancestors and Tribal cultural items had remained separated from their communities and stored in museums for too long.
An Interior Department spokesperson, when asked by ProPublica about the future of their repatriation focus under Donald Trump’s second presidency, referenced new regulations created in 2023. These regulations were designed to expedite the repatriation process by requiring institutions to respect tribal narratives concerning their histories and connections to areas from which remains were extracted. Additionally, new deadlines were set for institutions to align with the law.
Last year, over 10,300 Native American ancestors were repatriated by museums, universities, and agencies nationwide, marking 2024 as the third-largest year for repatriation under NAGPRA. This data is reflected in ProPublica’s online database, which tracks compliance progress among more than 600 museums and universities. ProPublica is updating this database to show progress as of January 6, 2025.
Outside the Interior Department and Illinois State Museum, state universities also made considerable repatriation efforts. For instance, California State University, Sacramento returned the remains of 873 Native Americans from its collection.
Following an unprecedented number of repatriations in 2023, when 18,000 Native American ancestors were returned, Shannon O’Loughlin, chief executive for the Association on American Indian Affairs, remarked that the progress signified the effectiveness of the new regulations.
Despite nearly 60% of the remains initially subject to NAGPRA being repatriated, approximately 90,000 still require return. The Interior Department has acknowledged that many of the remains it must return have been unaccounted for in federal inventories, largely scattered across university and museum repositories beyond federal oversight.
Interior Department staff noted last year the need for ongoing funding to support these efforts, which may be challenging in a current administrative climate focused on reducing spending. They emphasized the necessity to continue repatriation until all remains under the Department’s control are returned.
More than a year ago, the Interior Department had over 3,000 individuals yet to be repatriated, resulting from 20th-century archaeological excavations and infrastructure projects. Progress in repatriating 1,366 Native American ancestors was achieved following internal directives and increased budget allocations for these efforts in late 2023.
Tamara Billie, chief of Cultural Resource Management for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, highlighted gaps in past funding, noting it could take millions over several years to fully reunite remaining ancestors with their tribes.
Although attempts have been made to locate collections excavated on federal and tribal lands since NAGPRA’s enactment in 1990, many museums and universities have transferred holdings without sufficient documentation. Last year, officials observed few repositories thoroughly reviewing their collections for federal items, which is essential in the repatriation process.
Under new NAGPRA regulations, museums and universities were required to submit lists of items by January, included in federal inventories. This resulted in submissions of approximately 1,000 new notices, though it remains unclear how many ancestral remains these cover.
In Illinois, the State Museum published a Federal Register notice on February 24, 2024, indicating 1,325 ancestors and associated funerary items were available for repatriation. This institution maintains the second-largest collection of unrepatriated Native remains. Only Ohio History Connection, with over 7,900 remains, holds more. Signs of progress in Ohio were evident as over 150 remains were prepared for repatriation in 2024.
Potential state support for repatriation was also announced in Arizona. Governor Katie Hobbs proposed $7 million for efforts at the Arizona State Museum, which functions as both a state and federal repository. Despite past repatriations, over half of its NAGPRA-reported collection, totaling 2,600 ancestors, remains to be returned.
Challenges for compliance in Arizona arise partly because the museum still receives human remains from medical examiners and items confiscated from looters. The museum occasionally receives artifacts from private citizens without prior notice.
Ash Ngu provided data analysis for this report.
