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The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Virginia

Institutions reported making 28% of the more than 1,300 Native American remains taken from Virginia available for return to tribes under NAGPRA.

remains of 377 Native Americans made available for return to tribes
remains of at least 969 Native Americans not made available for return

There are 11 institutions located in Virginia 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
Virginia Department of Historic Resources71116919%
U.S. Department of Defense1417%
Bridgewater College5117%
U.S. Department of the Interior4343%
U.S. Department of Agriculture300%
Fredericksburg Area Museum100%
College of William and Mary, Department of Anthropology0158100%
Valentine Museum04100%
Virginia Commonwealth University09100%
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of State Parks04100%
Virginia Living Museum03100%

There are 22 institutions that reported Native American remains taken from Virginia.

InstitutionRemains Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
Virginia Department of Historic Resources70516919%
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill14932%
Harvard University5700%
Maryland Historical Trust1200%
U.S. Department of Defense1000%
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology800%
American Museum of Natural History700%
Carnegie Museum of Natural History500%
U.S. Department of the Interior4343%
University of Tennessee, Knoxville400%
U.S. Department of Agriculture300%
Seton Hall University200%
Bridgewater College1150%
State Museum of Pennsylvania100%
Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History100%
College of William and Mary, Department of Anthropology0158100%
Marshall University01100%
Pennsylvania State University, Matson Museum of Anthropology025100%
Valentine Museum01100%
Virginia Commonwealth University09100%
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of State Parks04100%
Virginia Living Museum03100%
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 Virginia available for return to 58 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
Nansemond Indian Nation224
Pamunkey Indian Tribe169
Upper Mattaponi Tribe169
Chickahominy Indian Tribe166
Chickahominy Indian Tribe - Eastern Division160
Rappahannock Tribe, Inc.160
Monacan Indian Tribe116
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians35
Cherokee Nation32
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma32
Catawba Indian Nation7
Delaware Nation, Oklahoma4
Delaware Tribe of Indians4
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma4
Muscogee (Creek) Nation3
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma1
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin1
Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan1
Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake) of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota1
Cayuga Nation1
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota1
Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana1
Fond du Lac Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota1
Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota1
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan1
Kaw Nation, Oklahoma1
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan1
Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin1
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan1
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin1
Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota1
Mille Lacs Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota1
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota1
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska1
Oneida Indian Nation in New York1
Oneida Nation of Wisconsin1
Onondaga Nation1
Osage Nation1
Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma1
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska1
Quapaw Nation1
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin1
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota1
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan1
Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe1
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan1
Seneca Nation of Indians1
Seneca-Cayuga Nation1
Shawnee Tribe1
Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin1
St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin1
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin1
Tonawanda Band of Seneca1
Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe1
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota1
Tuscarora Nation1
White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota1
Wyandotte Nation1

Institutions reported Native American remains taken from 41 counties in Virginia.

CountyRemains Taken From County Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
Smyth County1202819%
Rockbridge County11910647%
King George County10200%
Mecklenburg County8400%
Henry County7234%
Virginia Beach city616451%
Lee County5612%
Tazewell County4412%
Halifax County4100%
Washington County3013%
Prince George County28515%
James City County2400%
Northampton County2200%
Pulaski County1500%
Loudoun County1400%
Bath County1200%
Russell County1200%
Montgomery County1000%
Warren County1000%
Botetourt County800%
Orange County700%
Page County700%
Westmoreland County600%
Roanoke County500%
Wythe County500%
Frederick County300%
Southampton County300%
Charles City County213098%
Giles County200%
King William County200%
York County21789%
Portsmouth city200%
Staunton city200%
Accomack County100%
Amherst County100%
Goochland County100%
Pittsylvania County100%
Augusta County01100%
Chesterfield County03100%
Richmond County09100%
Wise 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