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The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Anthropology

Located in Massachusetts

The Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst has made available for return 100% of the 186 Native American remains that it reported to the federal government.

remains of 186 Native Americans made available for return to tribes
remains of 0 Native Americans not made available for return

Where Native American remains reported by the Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst 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
0%100%
Institution reported no remains taken from these counties
Location of institution
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Note: The Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst reported remains of at least one Native American with no location information. 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 the Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst

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 the Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst compares to other institutions

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

The Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst made Native American remains available for return to 64 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.
TribeRemains Made Available for Return To
Narragansett Indian Tribe105
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)101
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin97
Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi90
Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire90
Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck90
Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People90
Elnu Tribe of the Abenaki of VT90
Koasek (Cowasuck) Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation of VT90
Koasek Traditional Band of the Sovereign Abenaki Nation of VT90
Nipmuc Nation90
Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk-Abenaki Nation of VT90
St. Francis/Sokoki Band of VT90
Muscogee (Creek) Nation65
Seminole Tribe of Florida65
The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma65
Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation4
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians4
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe4
Mi'kmaq Nation4
Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine4
Penobscot Nation4
Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California2
California Valley Miwok Tribe, California2
Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California2
Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria, California2
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, California2
Haudenosaunee Confederacy2
Hopi Tribe of Arizona2
Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California2
Jackson Band of Miwuk Indians2
Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California2
Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of San Juan)2
Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California2
Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico2
Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico2
Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico2
Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico2
Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California2
Santo Domingo Pueblo2
Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract), California2
Table Mountain Rancheria2
United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California2
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo2
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico2
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma1
Coeur D'Alene Tribe1
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma1
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan1
Shawnee Tribe1
Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation1
Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation1

The Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst reported making 100% of more than 5,100 associated funerary objects available for return to tribes.

The funerary objects were taken along with Native American remains reported by the institution.
5,152 associated funerary objects made available for return to tribes
0 associated funerary objects not made available for return
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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