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The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Washington

Institutions reported making 91% of the more than 2,300 Native American remains taken from Washington available for return to tribes under NAGPRA.

remains of 2,135 Native Americans made available for return to tribes
remains of at least 222 Native Americans not made available for return

There are 25 institutions located in Washington 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
Central Washington University8025576%
Western Washington University6346%
U.S. Department of Defense230399%
Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office100%
Saint Martin's University Waynick Museum1889%
Whitman College, Maxey Museum16098%
Chelan County Public Utilities District02100%
Douglas County Public Utility District05100%
Eastern Washington University0103100%
Karshner Museum010100%
Kitsap County Coroner's Office02100%
Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture064100%
Pacific Lutheran University04100%
Pierce College031100%
Renton History Museum01100%
U.S. Department of Agriculture03100%
U.S. Department of Energy05100%
U.S. Department of Homeland Security01100%
U.S. Department of the Interior0208100%
University of Puget Sound, Puget Sound Museum of Natural History027100%
University of Washington0284100%
Washington State Dept of Natural Resources02100%
Washington State Historical Society013100%
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission024100%
Washington State University083100%

There are 52 institutions that reported Native American remains taken from Washington.

InstitutionRemains Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
Central Washington University7823475%
Western Washington University4548%
American Museum of Natural History4459093%
Portland State University2300%
Harvard University12320%
University of California, Berkeley43590%
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology4233%
Oregon State University3770%
U.S. Department of Defense232999%
Wisconsin Historical Society200%
Field Museum100%
Hastings Museum100%
University of Arizona, Arizona State Museum1267%
University of Iowa, Office of the State Archaeologist1150%
University of the Pacific100%
Alaska State Museum02100%
Central Washington Univ. + Univ. of Washington, Burke Museum (joint notice)02100%
Chelan County Public Utilities District02100%
Chemung Valley Historical Society01100%
Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum01100%
Douglas County Public Utility District05100%
Eastern Washington University0102100%
Indiana University05100%
Karshner Museum04100%
Kitsap County Coroner's Office02100%
Los Angeles County Natural History Museum01100%
Milwaukee Public Museum02100%
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council01100%
Museum of Natural History and Planetarium01100%
New York University, College of Dentistry01100%
Northwest Christian College, Kellenberger Library02100%
Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture064100%
Pacific Lutheran University01100%
Pierce College031100%
Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology01100%
Renton History Museum01100%
Saint Martin's University Waynick Museum08100%
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History03100%
U.S. Department of Agriculture03100%
U.S. Department of Energy05100%
U.S. Department of the Interior0229100%
University of Idaho, Alfred W. Bowers Laboratory of Anthropology025100%
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Anthropology01100%
University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History01100%
University of Puget Sound, Puget Sound Museum of Natural History017100%
University of Washington0238100%
Washington State Dept of Natural Resources02100%
Washington State Historical Society09100%
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission024100%
Washington State University078100%
Whitman College, Maxey Museum050100%
Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History03100%
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 Washington available for return to 59 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 and Bands of the Yakama Nation937
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation874
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation747
Nez Perce Tribe693
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon691
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe468
Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe461
Lower Elwha Tribal Community459
Wanapum Band268
Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation221
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community171
Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians of Washington146
Tulalip Tribes of Washington144
Puyallup Tribe of the Puyallup Reservation138
Samish Indian Nation123
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe102
Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation, Washington100
Nisqually Indian Tribe95
Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation91
Upper Skagit Indian Tribe84
Snoqualmie Indian Tribe78
Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation78
Cowlitz Indian Tribe61
Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation57
Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe54
Skokomish Indian Tribe54
Nooksack Indian Tribe52
Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel Reservation51
Coeur D'Alene Tribe50
Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation50
Squaxin Island Tribe of the Squaxin Island Reservation47
Quinault Indian Nation45
Hoh Indian Tribe43
Quileute Tribe of the Quileute Reservation43
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon23
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon20
Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes17
Snoqualmoo Tribe17
Chinook Tribe2
Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley1
Bishop Paiute Tribe1
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation, Nevada1
Duwamish Tribe1
Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming1
Ely Shoshone Tribe of Nevada1
Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada and Oregon1
Kikiallus Nation1
Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe1
Marietta Band of Nooksack Indians1
Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Nation1
Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony, Nevada1
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation1
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, Nevada1
Snohomish Tribe1
Steilacoom Indian Tribe1
Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada1
Timbisha Shoshone Tribe1
Winnemucca Indian Colony of Nevada1
Yomba Shoshone Tribe of the Yomba Reservation, Nevada1

Institutions reported Native American remains taken from 36 counties in Washington.

CountyRemains Taken From County Not Made Available for ReturnRemains Made Available for Return% of Remains Made Available for Return
Whatcom County431526%
Kittitas County233157%
Clark County201847%
Island County164875%
Snohomish County16316%
San Juan County1015794%
Clallam County940598%
Cowlitz County500%
Asotin County43489%
Skagit County42687%
Yakima County41882%
Columbia County3240%
King County33793%
Benton County212398%
Grays Harbor County21990%
Kitsap County21890%
Klickitat County2416100%
Chelan County012100%
Douglas County02100%
Ferry County0157100%
Franklin County0190100%
Garfield County06100%
Grant County069100%
Jefferson County013100%
Lincoln County010100%
Mason County07100%
Okanogan County021100%
Pacific County015100%
Pend Oreille County02100%
Pierce County048100%
Skamania County013100%
Spokane County08100%
Stevens County028100%
Thurston County01100%
Walla Walla County037100%
Whitman County012100%
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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