Indiana
Institutions reported making 35% of the more than 3,000 Native American remains taken from Indiana available for return to tribes under NAGPRA.
There are 23 institutions located in Indiana that reported Native American remains taken from across the country.
Institution | Remains Not Made Available for Return | Remains Made Available for Return | % of Remains Made Available for Return |
---|---|---|---|
Indiana University | 4,838 | 1,023 | 17% |
Ball State University, Applied Anthropology Laboratories | 240 | 29 | 11% |
Indiana State University | 232 | 0 | 0% |
Earlham College | 89 | 2 | 2% |
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation, State of Indiana | 77 | 106 | 58% |
University of Indianapolis, Archeology and Forensics Lab | 46 | 0 | 0% |
Purdue University | 42 | 0 | 0% |
The History Museum | 28 | 0 | 0% |
Tippecanoe County Historical Association | 16 | 0 | 0% |
Henry County Historical Society | 15 | 0 | 0% |
New Harmony Workingmen's Institute | 14 | 0 | 0% |
University of Notre Dame, Department of Anthropology | 6 | 2 | 25% |
U.S. Department of Agriculture | 5 | 0 | 0% |
Goshen College | 4 | 0 | 0% |
University of Southern Indiana | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Miami County Museum | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Sullivan County Historical Society, Inc. | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Allen County Museum, Fort Wayne Historical Society | 0 | 9 | 100% |
Hamilton County Department of Parks and Recreation | 0 | 34 | 100% |
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology | 0 | 33 | 100% |
Indiana Department of Transportation | 0 | 12 | 100% |
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne-Archaeological Survey | 0 | 38 | 100% |
U.S. Department of Justice | 0 | 9 | 100% |
There are 47 institutions that reported Native American remains taken from Indiana.
Institution | Remains Not Made Available for Return | Remains Made Available for Return | % of Remains Made Available for Return |
---|---|---|---|
Indiana University | 1,205 | 725 | 38% |
Ball State University, Applied Anthropology Laboratories | 233 | 26 | 10% |
Indiana State University | 224 | 0 | 0% |
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation, State of Indiana | 72 | 106 | 60% |
Purdue University | 42 | 0 | 0% |
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Phillips Academy | 30 | 0 | 0% |
Cincinnati Museum Center, Museum of Natural History and Science | 27 | 0 | 0% |
Earlham College | 18 | 0 | 0% |
Grand Rapids Public Museum | 17 | 0 | 0% |
Field Museum | 10 | 4 | 29% |
New Harmony Workingmen's Institute | 9 | 0 | 0% |
Harvard University | 8 | 0 | 0% |
Tippecanoe County Historical Association | 8 | 0 | 0% |
Filson Historical Society | 7 | 0 | 0% |
University of Notre Dame, Department of Anthropology | 6 | 0 | 0% |
U.S. Department of Agriculture | 5 | 0 | 0% |
University of Indianapolis, Archeology and Forensics Lab | 5 | 0 | 0% |
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council | 4 | 0 | 0% |
Northern Kentucky University | 4 | 0 | 0% |
San Bernardino County Museum | 4 | 0 | 0% |
Henry County Historical Society | 3 | 0 | 0% |
U.S. Department of Defense | 3 | 0 | 0% |
University of Louisville | 3 | 0 | 0% |
University of Southern Indiana | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Illinois State Museum | 2 | 0 | 0% |
The History Museum | 2 | 0 | 0% |
University of California, Berkeley | 2 | 0 | 0% |
University of Cincinnati, Department of Anthropology | 2 | 0 | 0% |
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology | 2 | 6 | 75% |
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Department of Anthropology | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Carnegie Museum of Natural History | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Hastings Museum | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Miami County Museum | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Rochester Museum and Science Center | 1 | 0 | 0% |
University of Nebraska State Museum | 1 | 0 | 0% |
University of New Mexico, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Allen County Museum, Fort Wayne Historical Society | 0 | 9 | 100% |
Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Coe College | 0 | 3 | 100% |
Hamilton County Department of Parks and Recreation | 0 | 34 | 100% |
Heard Museum | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology | 0 | 33 | 100% |
Indiana Department of Transportation | 0 | 12 | 100% |
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne-Archaeological Survey | 0 | 37 | 100% |
Michigan State University | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Princeton University | 0 | 1 | 100% |
U.S. Department of Justice | 0 | 40 | 100% |
Institutions made Native American remains taken from Indiana available for return to 85 tribes.
Tribe | Remains Made Available for Return to Tribe |
---|---|
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma | 969 |
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma | 898 |
Delaware Nation, Oklahoma | 887 |
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma | 874 |
Shawnee Tribe | 869 |
Delaware Tribe of Indians | 850 |
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma | 835 |
Quapaw Nation | 736 |
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana | 133 |
Osage Nation | 103 |
Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas | 43 |
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma | 41 |
Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma | 30 |
Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin | 30 |
Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan | 30 |
Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation | 29 |
Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan | 27 |
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan (formerly the Huron Potawatomi, Inc.) | 27 |
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin | 8 |
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin | 5 |
Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake) of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota | 5 |
Fond du Lac Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota | 5 |
Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota | 5 |
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan | 5 |
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma | 5 |
Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin | 5 |
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin | 5 |
Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota | 5 |
Mille Lacs Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota | 5 |
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin | 5 |
Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin | 5 |
White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota | 5 |
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin | 4 |
Kaw Nation, Oklahoma | 4 |
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota | 4 |
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska | 4 |
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska | 4 |
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota | 3 |
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota | 3 |
Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska | 3 |
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma | 3 |
Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma | 3 |
Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota | 3 |
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin | 3 |
Oglala Sioux Tribe | 3 |
Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma | 3 |
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma | 3 |
Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota | 3 |
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska | 3 |
Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma | 3 |
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa | 3 |
Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska | 3 |
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota | 3 |
Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota | 3 |
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota | 3 |
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota | 3 |
Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota | 3 |
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota | 3 |
Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan | 2 |
Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana | 2 |
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan | 2 |
Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas | 2 |
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan | 2 |
Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana | 2 |
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota | 2 |
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan | 2 |
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan | 2 |
St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin | 2 |
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota | 2 |
Wyandotte Nation | 2 |
Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians | 1 |
Cayuga Nation | 1 |
Cherokee Nation | 1 |
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians | 1 |
Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians | 1 |
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan | 1 |
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan | 1 |
Oneida Indian Nation in New York | 1 |
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin | 1 |
Onondaga Nation | 1 |
Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe | 1 |
Seneca Nation of Indians | 1 |
Seneca-Cayuga Nation | 1 |
Tonawanda Band of Seneca | 1 |
Tuscarora Nation | 1 |
Institutions reported Native American remains taken from 73 counties in Indiana.
County | Remains Taken From County Not Made Available for Return | Remains Made Available for Return | % of Remains Made Available for Return |
---|---|---|---|
Warrick County | 265 | 0 | 0% |
Henry County | 150 | 15 | 9% |
Posey County | 137 | 0 | 0% |
Spencer County | 136 | 32 | 19% |
Dearborn County | 132 | 0 | 0% |
Clark County | 125 | 11 | 8% |
Greene County | 103 | 0 | 0% |
Marion County | 74 | 0 | 0% |
Perry County | 62 | 0 | 0% |
Sullivan County | 59 | 0 | 0% |
Pike County | 53 | 0 | 0% |
Bartholomew County | 51 | 0 | 0% |
Randolph County | 45 | 0 | 0% |
Daviess County | 40 | 0 | 0% |
Franklin County | 40 | 0 | 0% |
Hamilton County | 35 | 36 | 51% |
Vermillion County | 35 | 0 | 0% |
Carroll County | 29 | 0 | 0% |
Harrison County | 26 | 42 | 62% |
Lawrence County | 24 | 0 | 0% |
Tippecanoe County | 23 | 1 | 4% |
Vigo County | 22 | 0 | 0% |
Jennings County | 21 | 0 | 0% |
St. Joseph County | 21 | 1 | 5% |
Madison County | 19 | 7 | 27% |
LaPorte County | 18 | 19 | 51% |
White County | 16 | 0 | 0% |
Kosciusko County | 13 | 0 | 0% |
Shelby County | 13 | 0 | 0% |
Jackson County | 12 | 0 | 0% |
Knox County | 12 | 0 | 0% |
Wayne County | 11 | 0 | 0% |
Crawford County | 9 | 0 | 0% |
Porter County | 8 | 5 | 38% |
Delaware County | 7 | 7 | 50% |
Gibson County | 7 | 0 | 0% |
Parke County | 7 | 0 | 0% |
Rush County | 7 | 0 | 0% |
Dubois County | 6 | 1 | 14% |
Huntington County | 6 | 0 | 0% |
Vanderburgh County | 6 | 725 | 99% |
Blackford County | 5 | 0 | 0% |
Floyd County | 5 | 99 | 95% |
Ohio County | 5 | 0 | 0% |
Lake County | 4 | 0 | 0% |
Fulton County | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Howard County | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Marshall County | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Noble County | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Jefferson County | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Johnson County | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Monroe County | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Montgomery County | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Orange County | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Ripley County | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Allen County | 1 | 23 | 96% |
Boone County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Cass County | 1 | 1 | 50% |
Clay County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
DeKalb County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Fountain County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Grant County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Hancock County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Hendricks County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
LaGrange County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Martin County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Miami County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Morgan County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Owen County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Wabash County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Starke County | 0 | 4 | 100% |
Steuben County | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Whitley County | 0 | 2 | 100% |
Know how an institution is handling repatriation? Have a personal story to share? We'd like to hear from you.
Watch an informational webinar with our reporters.
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