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The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Pennsylvania

Institutions reported making 14% of the more than 2,100 Native American remains taken from Pennsylvania available for return to tribes under NAGPRA.

remains of 303 Native Americans made available for return to tribes
remains of at least 1,862 Native Americans not made available for return

There are 22 institutions located in Pennsylvania 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
State Museum of Pennsylvania90817716%
Carnegie Museum of Natural History64610514%
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology40223036%
California University of Pennsylvania18300%
North Museum of Nature and Science12000%
Temple University, Department of Anthropology11697%
Tioga Point Museum7000%
Mutter Museum, College of Physicians of Philadelphia48916%
Wagner Free Institute of Science2600%
U.S. Department of Defense2000%
Warren County Historical Society700%
Pennsylvania State University, Matson Museum of Anthropology55191%
Lackawanna Historical Society300%
Indiana University of Pennsylvania2250%
Everhart Museum100%
Bryn Mawr College03100%
Gettysburg Foundation01100%
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania021100%
Library Company of Philadelphia01100%
Reading Public Museum02100%
U.S. Department of the Interior042100%
Wistar Institute04100%

There are 28 institutions that reported Native American remains taken from Pennsylvania.

InstitutionRemains Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
State Museum of Pennsylvania85317717%
Carnegie Museum of Natural History4959616%
California University of Pennsylvania18300%
North Museum of Nature and Science11500%
Temple University, Department of Anthropology11500%
Tioga Point Museum3500%
U.S. Department of Defense2000%
Rochester Museum and Science Center1200%
Warren County Historical Society700%
American Museum of Natural History500%
Pennsylvania State University, Matson Museum of Anthropology500%
University of Akron400%
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology4343%
New York State Museum300%
Goshen College200%
Chemung Valley Historical Society100%
Indiana University100%
Lackawanna Historical Society100%
New York University, College of Dentistry100%
Denver Museum of Nature and Science03100%
Gettysburg Foundation01100%
Gilcrease Museum03100%
Harvard University05100%
Indiana University of Pennsylvania02100%
Lambertville Historical Society01100%
Mercyhurst Univ.04100%
New Jersey State Museum01100%
U.S. Department of the Interior07100%
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 Pennsylvania available for return to 15 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
Seneca Nation of Indians142
Delaware Tribe of Indians124
Seneca-Cayuga Nation99
Tonawanda Band of Seneca99
Delaware Nation, Oklahoma76
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin76
Cherokee Nation67
Wyandotte Nation29
Cayuga Nation5
Oneida Indian Nation in New York5
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin5
Onondaga Nation5
Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe5
Tuscarora Nation5
Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico1

Institutions reported Native American remains taken from 43 counties in Pennsylvania.

CountyRemains Taken From County Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
Lancaster County7229311%
Fayette County28321%
Allegheny County1484222%
Washington County9300%
Westmoreland County8300%
Bradford County7823%
Greene County7100%
York County5300%
Huntingdon County3800%
Beaver County3600%
Somerset County3300%
Warren County3100%
Armstrong County2400%
Indiana County2400%
Clarion County1800%
Crawford County1815%
Chester County71771%
Franklin County700%
Pike County7750%
Clinton County600%
Bedford County500%
Bucks County5758%
Dauphin County5229%
Erie County500%
Lebanon County400%
Luzerne County42888%
Butler County300%
Lawrence County39297%
Montour County300%
Tioga County300%
Centre County200%
Berks County100%
Clearfield County100%
Cumberland County100%
Elk County100%
Fulton County100%
Lycoming County100%
Northampton County100%
Philadelphia County1375%
Delaware County01100%
Mercer County01100%
Monroe County02100%
Wyoming County01100%
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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