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The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Colorado

Institutions reported making 87% of the more than 4,100 Native American remains taken from Colorado available for return to tribes under NAGPRA.

remains of 3,634 Native Americans made available for return to tribes
remains of at least 551 Native Americans not made available for return

There are 28 institutions located in Colorado that reported Native American remains taken from across the country.

InstitutionRemains Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
Trinidad State Junior College6200%
Museum of Western Colorado5300%
University of Colorado, Denver, Department of Anthropology4000%
Western Colorado University4000%
Fort Lewis College3013482%
Metropolitan State University of Denver, Department of Anthropology1300%
Rocky Ford Historical Museum500%
Koshare Indian Museum, Inc.400%
U.S. Department of Agriculture26397%
Denver Museum of Nature and Science115399%
Tread of Pioneers Museum100%
U.S. Department of the Interior12,438100%
Adams State University, Luther Bean Museum01100%
Animas Museum061100%
Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave01100%
Colorado Archaeological Society, Denver Chapter07100%
Colorado Bureau of Investigation03100%
Colorado College045100%
Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum04100%
Colorado State University079100%
Delta County Historical Society Museum01100%
Denver Art Museum01100%
Fort Collins Museum of Discovery019100%
History Colorado01,181100%
Pioneer Historical Society of Bent County03100%
University of Colorado Museum0695100%
University of Denver, Museum of Anthropology0170100%
University of Northern Colorado031100%

There are 61 institutions that reported Native American remains taken from Colorado.

InstitutionRemains Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
Harvard University152106%
American Museum of Natural History7311%
Trinidad State Junior College5000%
Field Museum4600%
University of Colorado, Denver, Department of Anthropology4000%
Fort Lewis College309476%
Western Colorado University2900%
University of California, Berkeley2200%
University of New Mexico, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology1800%
University of Arizona, Arizona State Museum1500%
Metropolitan State University of Denver, Department of Anthropology1300%
Hastings Museum900%
West Texas A and M University, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum800%
Natural History Museum of Utah600%
Wichita State University, Department of Anthropology600%
Museum of New Mexico, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture500%
Milwaukee Public Museum300%
Buffalo Museum of Science200%
Dartmouth College, Hood Museum of Art200%
Rocky Ford Historical Museum200%
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Center for Archaeological Investigations200%
U.S. Department of Agriculture26197%
University of Kentucky, William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology200%
Denver Museum of Nature and Science12296%
Florida State University, Department of Anthropology100%
Illinois State Museum100%
Kalamazoo Valley Museum100%
Kansas City Museum100%
Museum of Texas Tech University100%
Putnam Museum1150%
Rochester Museum and Science Center100%
Saint Martin's University Waynick Museum100%
Tread of Pioneers Museum100%
U.S. Department of the Interior12,153100%
University of Nebraska State Museum1150%
University of Texas, El Paso, Centennial Museum100%
Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History100%
Adams State University, Luther Bean Museum01100%
Animas Museum057100%
Central Michigan University, Museum of Cultural and Natural History01100%
Colorado Archaeological Society, Denver Chapter07100%
Colorado Bureau of Investigation03100%
Colorado College016100%
Colorado State University027100%
Delta County Historical Society Museum01100%
Fort Collins Museum of Discovery017100%
History Colorado0686100%
Indiana University08100%
Karshner Museum01100%
Michigan State University03100%
Pioneer Historical Society of Bent County01100%
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Phillips Academy01100%
U.S. Department of Defense047100%
University of Colorado Museum0336100%
University of Denver, Museum of Anthropology040100%
University of Iowa, Office of the State Archaeologist02100%
University of Maine01100%
University of Northern Colorado031100%
University of San Diego01100%
University of Texas at Austin, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory02100%
University of Wyoming01100%
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.

Institutions made Native American remains taken from Colorado available for return to 83 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 Tribe
Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico2,918
Hopi Tribe of Arizona2,805
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico2,769
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico2,766
Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of San Juan)2,763
Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico2,763
Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico2,763
Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico2,755
Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico2,754
Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico2,747
Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico2,747
Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico2,747
Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico2,747
Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico2,746
Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico2,342
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico2,337
Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico2,328
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico2,327
Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico2,322
Santo Domingo Pueblo2,322
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo2,321
Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah1,576
Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado571
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe567
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma455
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana430
Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma406
Comanche Nation, Oklahoma403
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah364
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma358
Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma349
Oglala Sioux Tribe343
Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota343
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota297
Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming254
Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico210
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma123
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota117
Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico99
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota98
Crow Tribe of Montana69
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota49
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South Dakota44
Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota44
Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota44
Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska44
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota44
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota44
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota44
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana29
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota29
Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota29
Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota29
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco and Tawakonie), Oklahoma23
Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah22
Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming20
Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah19
San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe of Arizona4
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation4
Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and California3
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona3
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma3
Osage Nation3
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma3
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska3
Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma3
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa3
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona3
Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona3
White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona3
Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian Reservation, Arizona3
Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana2
Bishop Paiute Tribe1
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation, Nevada1
Ely Shoshone Tribe of Nevada1
Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada and Oregon1
Lineal Descendant1
Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe1
Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony, Nevada1
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, Nevada1
Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada1
Timbisha Shoshone Tribe1
Yomba Shoshone Tribe of the Yomba Reservation, Nevada1

Institutions reported Native American remains taken from 53 counties in Colorado.

CountyRemains Taken From County Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
La Plata County16629164%
Montezuma County1502,35994%
Las Animas County475654%
Dolores County510896%
Alamosa County3873%
Logan County2571%
Archuleta County118599%
Bent County1375%
Cheyenne County1150%
Hinsdale County100%
Huerfano County1480%
Jefferson County17199%
Moffat County1889%
Prowers County1150%
San Miguel County100%
Weld County15598%
Yuma County1150%
Adams County024100%
Arapahoe County07100%
Baca County03100%
Boulder County011100%
Chaffee County01100%
Clear Creek County01100%
Conejos County01100%
Costilla County06100%
Crowley County01100%
Custer County02100%
Delta County02100%
Denver County03100%
Douglas County07100%
Eagle County01100%
Elbert County02100%
El Paso County09100%
Fremont County010100%
Garfield County02100%
Gilpin County01100%
Gunnison County01100%
Kiowa County06100%
Larimer County062100%
Lincoln County011100%
Mesa County011100%
Montrose County08100%
Morgan County08100%
Ouray County01100%
Park County02100%
Pueblo County016100%
Rio Blanco County010100%
Rio Grande County02100%
Routt County01100%
Saguache County012100%
San Juan County04100%
Sedgwick County02100%
Washington County03100%
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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