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The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Oregon

Institutions reported making 85% of the 1,300 Native American remains taken from Oregon available for return to tribes under NAGPRA.

remains of 1,100 Native Americans made available for return to tribes
remains of at least 200 Native Americans not made available for return

There are 19 institutions located in Oregon 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
Portland State University7900%
University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History7347987%
Oregon State University6314770%
Oregon Historical Society1417%
Willamette University, Hallie Ford Museum of Art11427%
Southern Oregon University400%
High Desert Museum3457%
Klamath County Museum21083%
Benton County Historical Society100%
Lane County Historical Museum100%
U.S. Department of the Interior13497%
Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum02100%
Northwest Christian College, Kellenberger Library02100%
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry02100%
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department016100%
Southern Oregon Historical Society02100%
U.S. Department of Agriculture016100%
U.S. Department of Defense0212100%
Wasco County Dalles City Museum Commission03100%

There are 43 institutions that reported Native American remains taken from Oregon.

InstitutionRemains Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
Field Museum6834%
University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History2935392%
University of California, Berkeley28413%
American Museum of Natural History182962%
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology1218%
Portland State University900%
Harvard University7222%
Oregon State University49996%
Southern Oregon University400%
The History Museum300%
Idaho State University, Idaho Museum of Natural History200%
Oregon Historical Society2133%
Willamette University, Hallie Ford Museum of Art2360%
Earlham College100%
Hastings Museum1150%
Idaho State Historical Society100%
Illinois State Museum100%
Lane County Historical Museum100%
U.S. Department of Defense118199%
U.S. Department of the Interior13597%
University of Alaska Museum of the North100%
University of California, Davis100%
Western Washington University100%
Whitman College, Maxey Museum1480%
Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History1280100%
Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology01100%
Central Washington University017100%
High Desert Museum02100%
Karshner Museum02100%
Klamath County Museum05100%
Los Angeles County Natural History Museum01100%
Milwaukee Public Museum01100%
Museum of Us01100%
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry02100%
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department016100%
Southern Oregon Historical Society02100%
U.S. Department of Agriculture010100%
U.S. Department of Homeland Security01100%
University of Connecticut, Connecticut State Museum of Natural History011100%
University of Puget Sound, Puget Sound Museum of Natural History05100%
University of Washington06100%
University of Wyoming018100%
Wasco County Dalles City Museum Commission03100%
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 Oregon available for return to 28 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
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon579
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation502
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon349
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon283
Klamath Tribes123
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation87
Coquille Indian Tribe66
Burns Paiute Tribe65
Elk Valley Rancheria, California48
Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation48
Modoc Nation46
Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation34
Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon32
Nez Perce Tribe27
Quinault Indian Nation16
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation8
Quartz Valley Indian Community of the Quartz Valley Reservation of California6
Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation4
Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California4
Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel Reservation4
Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation4
Alturas Indian Rancheria, California3
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians3
Pit River Tribe, California3
Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation, California3
Susanville Indian Rancheria, California3
Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada and Oregon2
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, Nevada1

Institutions reported Native American remains taken from 32 counties in Oregon.

CountyRemains Taken From County Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
Wasco County7635582%
Curry County218280%
Clatsop County7853%
Multnomah County7330%
Tillamook County7646%
Columbia County500%
Jackson County55091%
Benton County31381%
Linn County36095%
Lake County24095%
Morrow County2250%
Wallowa County2360%
Douglas County1150%
Marion County1267%
Umatilla County11794%
Wheeler County1267%
Yamhill County16799%
Clackamas County01100%
Coos County039100%
Deschutes County05100%
Gilliam County0141100%
Grant County010100%
Harney County022100%
Hood River County02100%
Jefferson County01100%
Josephine County01100%
Klamath County075100%
Lane County017100%
Lincoln County021100%
Malheur County08100%
Sherman County01100%
Washington County08100%
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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