The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology

Beloit College has the 75th largest collection of unrepatriated Native American remains in the U.S. The institution reported still having the remains of at least 100 Native Americans that it has not made available for return to tribes.

The institution has made available for return 61% of the more than 300 Native American remains that it reported to the federal government.

remains of 224 Native Americans made available for return to tribes

remains of at least 145 Native Americans not made available for return

Where Native American remains reported by Beloit College were taken from

Each county is a peak

Height is the minimum amount of remains taken from county, as reported by institution

Color is reported rate of remains made available for return to tribes

Institution reported no remains taken from these counties

Location of institution

Note: Beloit College reported remains of at least 90 Native Americans with no location information. 0% of these remains were made available for return to tribes.

Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, when an institution establishes a connection between tribes and remains, it must publish a list of the tribes eligible to make a repatriation claim. The remains are then made available for return to the tribe(s). Once a tribal claim is made, physical transfer may occur. Many remains have been physically returned to tribes, but data on this is spotty because the law does not require institutions to report when these transfers occur.

Timeline of Native American remains made available for return to tribes by Beloit College

Tribal and institutional capacity, funding, staffing, regulatory changes, audits, Review Committee decisions and litigation may influence timelines. Under NAGPRA, institutions determine whether Native American remains may be returned through cultural affiliation using evidence such as tribal traditional knowledge and biological and archaeological links, or through disposition based on geographic affiliation.

How Beloit College compares to other institutions

The amount of Native American remains still held by institutions ranges widely.

Beloit College made Native American remains available for return to 118 tribes.

Institutions often make remains available for return to multiple tribes, so the amount of remains listed below may be counted for more than one tribe.

Tribe	Remains Made Available for Return To
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma	114
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin	111
Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin	111
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin	111
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin	111
Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin	111
St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin	111
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan	109
Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan	108
Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake) of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota	108
Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana	108
Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma	108
Fond du Lac Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota	108
Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin	108
Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota	108
Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan	108
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan	108
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan	108
Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota	108
Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana	108
Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan	108
Mille Lacs Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota	108
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota	108
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan (formerly the Huron Potawatomi, Inc.)	108
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana	108
Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation	108
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota	108
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska	108
Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma	108
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa	108
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan	108
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan	108
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota	108
White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota	108
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota	107
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota	107
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin	107
Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska	107
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma	107
Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota	107
Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma	107
Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota	107
Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska	107
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota	107
Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota	107
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska	107
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota	107
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin	105
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana	104
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota	104
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South Dakota	104
Oglala Sioux Tribe	104
Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota	104
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota	104
Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota	104
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota	104
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota	48
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians	43
Seminole Tribe of Florida	43
The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma	43
Osage Nation	19
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan	16
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan	16
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma	16
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma	15
Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas	13
Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas	13
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma	13
Seneca Nation of Indians	12
Seneca-Cayuga Nation	12
Tonawanda Band of Seneca	12
Cayuga Nation	9
Oneida Indian Nation in New York	9
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin	9
Onondaga Nation	9
Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe	9
Tuscarora Nation	9
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma	8
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma	8
Shawnee Tribe	8
Cherokee Nation	7
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians	7
Quapaw Nation	7
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma	7
La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians, California	5
Pala Band of Mission Indians	5
Pauma Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pauma and Yuima Reservation, California	5
Pechanga Band of Indians	5
Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians	5
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California	5
Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, California	5
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin	4
Bridgeport Indian Colony	3
Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California	3
California Valley Miwok Tribe, California	3
Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, California	3
Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California	3
Delaware Nation, Oklahoma	3
Delaware Tribe of Indians	3
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, California	3
Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California	3
Jackson Band of Miwuk Indians	3
Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California	3
Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract), California	3
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria of California	3
United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California	3
Wilton Rancheria, California	3
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma	2
Kaw Nation, Oklahoma	2
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska	2
Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma	2
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska	2
Wyandotte Nation	2
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation	1
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation	1
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon	1
Muscogee (Creek) Nation	1
Nez Perce Tribe	1

Beloit College reported making 25% of more than 4,100 associated funerary objects available for return to tribes.

The funerary objects were taken along with Native American remains reported by the institution.

1,015 associated funerary objects made available for return to tribes

at least 3,117 associated funerary objects not made available for return

Search for institutions holding Native American remains and tribes seeking to reclaim them

Try the University of California, Berkeley, the Chickasaw Nation or Arizona.

Institutions that have not submitted information to the federal government are not listed.

More from The Repatriation Project

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Behind ProPublica’s Reporting on Repatriation

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About the Data

This tool presents a dataset maintained by the National Park Service containing all the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects that institutions have reported to the federal government under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The dataset includes information about the state and county where remains and objects were taken from, which institutions hold them and whether they have been made available for return to tribes.

The data is self-reported by institutions. The amount of unrepatriated Native American remains reported by institutions is a minimum estimate of individuals and institutions frequently adjust these numbers when they reinventory groups of remains. Some institutions that are subject to NAGPRA have also entirely failed to report the remains in their possession. As a result, the numbers provided are best taken as estimates. The actual number and geographic scope of what’s held by publicly funded institutions is larger than what is presently documented.

ProPublica supplemented this dataset with information about cultural affiliation and disposition to specific tribes by systematically parsing the text of Notices of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register. An additional dataset from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Tribal Directory Assessment Tool, was used for the section on remains not made available for return from counties that each tribe has indicated interest in to the federal government.

Institution location and tribal headquarters location information was provided by National NAGPRA. The location of some groups that are not federally recognized was provided through research by ProPublica.

Institutions that are part of a larger entity are grouped. (For example, the Mesa Verde National Park is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.)

Institutions that have not submitted information to the federal government are not listed. The Smithsonian Institution is not listed because its repatriation process falls under the National Museum of the American Indian Act and it is not required to publicly report its holdings with the same detail as institutions subject to NAGPRA.

If you work for an institution and would like to provide comment on your institution’s repatriation efforts, please email [email protected]. If you think the data is incorrect or have a data request, please get in touch. We are aware of some issues with the accuracy of location information and tribes mistakenly being identified for disposition of Native American remains in published notices.

If you want to share something else with ProPublica, we’d like to hear from you.

If you have questions about implementing or complying with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, get in touch with National NAGPRA or the NAGPRA Community of Practice.

We use the word “tribes” to refer to all groups that institutions made Native American remains available to under NAGPRA. This includes tribes, nations, bands, pueblos, communities, Native Alaskan villages, Native Hawaiian organizations and non-federally recognized groups.

Data sources from Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National NAGPRA Program, the Federal Register, Department of Housing and Development, Tribal Directory Assessment Tool

by Ash Ngu and Andrea Suozzo Jan. 11, 2023 Data from Nov. 29, 2023 Additional reporting by Asia Fields, Mary Hudetz and Logan Jaffe for ProPublica and Graham Brewer for NBC News. Additional development by Alec Glassford.