New York
Institutions reported making 77% of the more than 3,600 Native American remains taken from New York available for return to tribes under NAGPRA.
There are 37 institutions located in New York 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 |
---|---|---|---|
American Museum of Natural History | 1,882 | 1,689 | 47% |
New York State Museum | 584 | 530 | 48% |
Nassau County Department of Parks and Recreation | 488 | 0 | 0% |
SUNY, University at Buffalo | 143 | 34 | 19% |
Rochester Museum and Science Center | 121 | 1,539 | 93% |
New York University, College of Dentistry | 113 | 151 | 57% |
Buffalo Museum of Science | 72 | 0 | 0% |
Buffalo State College | 15 | 0 | 0% |
Brooklyn Museum | 4 | 1 | 20% |
Fort Ticonderoga | 3 | 6 | 67% |
Hartwick College | 3 | 1 | 25% |
Broome County Historical Society | 2 | 11 | 85% |
Chemung Valley Historical Society | 2 | 1 | 33% |
Colgate University, Longyear Museum of Anthropology | 2 | 17 | 89% |
Cornell University | 1 | 3 | 75% |
Hobart and William Smith Colleges | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Oneida County Historical Society | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Pember Library and Museum | 1 | 0 | 0% |
SUNY, Binghamton, Department of Anthropology | 1 | 27 | 96% |
SUNY, Potsdam | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences | 1 | 4 | 80% |
Brooklyn Children's Museum | 0 | 3 | 100% |
Columbia University, Department of Anthropology | 0 | 14 | 100% |
Geneva Historical Society | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Greater Amsterdam School District | 0 | 4 | 100% |
Historic Hugeuenot Street | 0 | 2 | 100% |
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation | 0 | 3 | 100% |
Rome Historical Society | 0 | 87 | 100% |
SUNY, College at Oswego | 0 | 43 | 100% |
SUNY, New Paltz | 0 | 8 | 100% |
SUNY, University at Albany | 0 | 30 | 100% |
Seneca Falls Historical Society | 0 | 1 | 100% |
St. Lawrence University | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Syracuse University, Department of Anthropology | 0 | 4 | 100% |
Tioga County Historical Society | 0 | 2 | 100% |
U.S. Department of the Interior | 0 | 16 | 100% |
Vassar College | 0 | 14 | 100% |
There are 57 institutions that reported Native American remains taken from New York.
Institution | Remains Not Made Available for Return | Remains Made Available for Return | % of Remains Made Available for Return |
---|---|---|---|
New York State Museum | 454 | 523 | 54% |
SUNY, University at Buffalo | 127 | 34 | 21% |
American Museum of Natural History | 97 | 159 | 62% |
Buffalo Museum of Science | 46 | 0 | 0% |
Harvard University | 20 | 257 | 93% |
Nassau County Department of Parks and Recreation | 16 | 0 | 0% |
New York University, College of Dentistry | 13 | 5 | 28% |
University of Indianapolis, Archeology and Forensics Lab | 10 | 0 | 0% |
Buffalo State College | 9 | 0 | 0% |
State Museum of Pennsylvania | 9 | 0 | 0% |
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology | 7 | 5 | 42% |
Carnegie Museum of Natural History | 4 | 1 | 20% |
U.S. Department of Defense | 4 | 2 | 33% |
Fort Ticonderoga | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Broome County Historical Society | 2 | 11 | 85% |
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Phillips Academy | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Seton Hall University | 2 | 1 | 33% |
Chemung Valley Historical Society | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Hartwick College | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Hobart and William Smith Colleges | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Oneida County Historical Society | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Pember Library and Museum | 1 | 0 | 0% |
SUNY, Binghamton, Department of Anthropology | 1 | 27 | 96% |
SUNY, Potsdam | 1 | 0 | 0% |
University of Kansas | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Autry Museum of the American West | 0 | 2 | 100% |
Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology | 0 | 4 | 100% |
Brooklyn Children's Museum | 0 | 3 | 100% |
Bruce Museum | 0 | 2 | 100% |
Colgate University, Longyear Museum of Anthropology | 0 | 13 | 100% |
Cornell University | 0 | 3 | 100% |
Field Museum | 0 | 11 | 100% |
Florida Department of State | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Fruitlands Museums | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Geneva Historical Society | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Greater Amsterdam School District | 0 | 4 | 100% |
Historic Hugeuenot Street | 0 | 2 | 100% |
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania | 0 | 21 | 100% |
Milwaukee Public Museum | 0 | 1 | 100% |
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation | 0 | 3 | 100% |
Oberlin College | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Palmer Foundation for Chiropractic History | 0 | 2 | 100% |
Peabody Essex Museum | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Rochester Museum and Science Center | 0 | 1,536 | 100% |
Rome Historical Society | 0 | 87 | 100% |
SUNY, College at Oswego | 0 | 43 | 100% |
SUNY, New Paltz | 0 | 5 | 100% |
SUNY, University at Albany | 0 | 30 | 100% |
Seneca Falls Historical Society | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Springfield Science Museum | 0 | 3 | 100% |
St. Lawrence University | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences | 0 | 4 | 100% |
Syracuse University, Department of Anthropology | 0 | 4 | 100% |
Tioga County Historical Society | 0 | 2 | 100% |
U.S. Department of the Interior | 0 | 31 | 100% |
University of California, Berkeley | 0 | 2 | 100% |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Anthropology | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Institutions made Native American remains taken from New York available for return to 25 tribes.
Tribe | Remains Made Available for Return to Tribe |
---|---|
Seneca-Cayuga Nation | 1,651 |
Seneca Nation of Indians | 1,631 |
Tonawanda Band of Seneca | 1,613 |
Onondaga Nation | 925 |
Oneida Indian Nation in New York | 689 |
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin | 628 |
Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe | 601 |
Cayuga Nation | 502 |
Tuscarora Nation | 495 |
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin | 407 |
Delaware Nation, Oklahoma | 328 |
Delaware Tribe of Indians | 269 |
Wyandotte Nation | 253 |
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska | 240 |
Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma | 240 |
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa | 240 |
Haudenosaunee Confederacy | 181 |
Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs Akwesasne | 69 |
Cherokee Nation | 59 |
Shinnecock Indian Nation | 22 |
Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs | 7 |
Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe | 3 |
Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut | 3 |
Narragansett Indian Tribe | 3 |
Unkechaug Indian Nation | 1 |
Institutions reported Native American remains taken from 53 counties in New York.
County | Remains Taken From County Not Made Available for Return | Remains Made Available for Return | % of Remains Made Available for Return |
---|---|---|---|
Chautauqua County | 211 | 142 | 40% |
Erie County | 93 | 263 | 74% |
Seneca County | 77 | 12 | 13% |
Nassau County | 56 | 0 | 0% |
Jefferson County | 39 | 120 | 75% |
Yates County | 33 | 25 | 43% |
St. Lawrence County | 29 | 3 | 9% |
Suffolk County | 28 | 19 | 40% |
Ontario County | 25 | 244 | 91% |
Cayuga County | 24 | 218 | 90% |
Monroe County | 20 | 254 | 93% |
Montgomery County | 19 | 113 | 86% |
Chemung County | 14 | 3 | 18% |
Livingston County | 14 | 248 | 95% |
Niagara County | 14 | 56 | 80% |
Onondaga County | 14 | 154 | 92% |
Schuyler County | 13 | 94 | 88% |
Tioga County | 13 | 190 | 94% |
Queens County | 11 | 3 | 21% |
Schoharie County | 8 | 0 | 0% |
Orleans County | 6 | 19 | 76% |
Wayne County | 4 | 18 | 82% |
Allegany County | 3 | 7 | 70% |
Bronx County | 3 | 42 | 93% |
Broome County | 3 | 79 | 96% |
Cattaraugus County | 3 | 1 | 25% |
Essex County | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Herkimer County | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Madison County | 3 | 59 | 95% |
Oswego County | 3 | 40 | 93% |
Fulton County | 2 | 6 | 75% |
Genesee County | 2 | 10 | 83% |
Westchester County | 2 | 8 | 80% |
Chenango County | 1 | 5 | 83% |
Dutchess County | 1 | 26 | 96% |
Greene County | 1 | 43 | 98% |
Oneida County | 1 | 10 | 91% |
Otsego County | 1 | 1 | 50% |
Saratoga County | 1 | 8 | 89% |
Wyoming County | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Albany County | 0 | 62 | 100% |
Delaware County | 0 | 8 | 100% |
Kings County | 0 | 2 | 100% |
New York County | 0 | 29 | 100% |
Orange County | 0 | 35 | 100% |
Rensselaer County | 0 | 3 | 100% |
Richmond County | 0 | 49 | 100% |
Schenectady County | 0 | 3 | 100% |
Steuben County | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Sullivan County | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Ulster County | 0 | 52 | 100% |
Warren County | 0 | 1 | 100% |
Washington County | 0 | 6 | 100% |
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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