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The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma

A federally recognized Indian tribe with headquarters in Oklahoma

Institutions reported making the remains of more than 1,500 Native Americans available for return to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

The tribe was also eligible to claim more than 17,500 associated funerary objects.

Institutions continue to hold the remains of at least 4,000 Native Americans taken from counties known to be of interest to the tribe.*

Where Native American remains made available for return to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes were taken from

Each county is a peak
Height is amount of remains taken from county and made available by institutions for return to tribe
No remains taken from these counties made available for return to tribe
Institution that made remains available for return
Swipe interaction icon
Note: Remains of 257 Native Americans with no location information were made available for return to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.
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.

These 32 institutions made Native American remains available for return to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

InstitutionRemains Made Available for Return To Tribe
History Nebraska588
History Colorado478
U.S. Department of Defense97
University of Wyoming55
University of Colorado Museum50
University of Denver, Museum of Anthropology38
University of Northern Colorado31
Denver Museum of Nature and Science25
University of Iowa, Office of the State Archaeologist21
U.S. Department of the Interior20
Pittsburg State University19
Fort Collins Museum of Discovery18
Colorado College11
Harvard University11
Chadron State College8
Columbia University, Department of Anthropology4
Field Museum4
Kansas State Historical Society4
U.S. Department of Agriculture4
Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History4
Colorado Bureau of Investigation3
Heard Museum2
Pioneer Historical Society of Bent County2
University of Oklahoma2
American Museum of Natural History1
Baylor University, Mayborn Museum Complex1
Buffalo Bill Center of the West1
Illinois State Museum1
Missouri Historical Society1
Putnam Museum1
University of Maine1
University of Nebraska State Museum1

Timeline of Native American remains made available for return to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes

Tribal and institutional capacity, funding, staffing, regulatory changes, audits, Review Committee decisions and litigation may influence timelines. Under NAGPRA, institutions determine whether Native American remains may be returned through cultural affiliation using evidence such as tribal traditional knowledge and biological and archaeological links, or through disposition based on geographic affiliation.

These institutions have not made available for return the remains of at least 4,000 Native Americans that were taken from counties known to be of interest to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

These are estimates calculated using remains not made available for return from counties that the tribe has previously been eligible to claim remains from, as well as counties that the tribe has indicated interest in to the federal government. They are not comprehensive figures. The tribe may not wish to claim the remains, and other tribes may also seek to claim them.
InstitutionRemains Not Made Available for Return That Were Taken From Counties of Interest to the Tribe
Univ. of Oklahoma2,207
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (2,188)
Oklahoma Archeological Survey (19)
Univ. of Kansas345
Kansas State Historical Society276
Harvard Univ.235
Dept. of Defense223
Tulsa District (207)
Omaha District (11)
National Museum of Health and Medicine (3)
Kansas City District (2)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville137
Dept. of the Interior99
Reclamation, Great Plains Region, Nebraska-Kansas Area Office (56)
Wyoming State Office (17)
Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge (15)
BIA (5)
Reclamation, Great Plains Region, Wyoming Area Office (3)
Voyageurs NP (3)
American Museum of Natural History82
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council77
Trinidad State Junior College46
South Dakota State Historical Society, State Archaeological Research Center44
Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth38
Univ. of Wyoming29
Western Colorado Univ.25
Fort Lewis College21
Gilcrease Museum17
Hastings Museum15
History Nebraska13
Univ. of Michigan13
Wichita State Univ.10
Kansas State Univ.8
No Man's Land Historical Society7
Univ. of Arizona7
Univ. of North Texas6
Goodhue County Historical Society5
Houston Museum of Natural Science5
Univ. of Nebraska State Museum5
San Bernardino County Museum4
Buffalo Bill Center of the West3
Illinois State Museum3
Museum of Texas Tech Univ.3
Tioga Point Museum3
West Texas A and M Univ.3
Goshen College2
Minnesota Historical Society2
New York Univ.2
Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale2
Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer2
Dept. of Agriculture2
Univ. of Kentucky2
Carnegie Museum of Natural History1
Cass County Historical Society Museum1
Cleveland Museum of Natural History1
Denver Museum of Nature and Science1
Field Museum1
Florida State Univ.1
Grand Rapids Public Museum1
Kansas City Museum1
Meeteetse Museum1
Natural History Museum of Utah1
Univ. of Arkansas1
Univ. of California, Berkeley1
Univ. of California, Riverside1
Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign1
Univ. of Memphis1
Univ. of Tulsa1
Utah Dept. of Natural Resources1
Counties of interest used in estimate include: Kings in California. Adams, Alamosa, Arapahoe, Baca, Bent, Boulder, Chaffee, Cheyenne, Clear Creek, Crowley, Custer, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Elbert, Fremont, Gilpin, Grand, Huerfano, Jackson, Jefferson, Kiowa, Kit Carson, La Plata, Lake, Larimer, Las Animas, Lincoln, Logan, Mesa, Moffat, Morgan, Otero, Park, Phillips, Prowers, Pueblo, Saguache, Sedgwick, Summit, Teller, Washington, Weld and Yuma in Colorado. Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Brown, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Edwards, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Lane, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Logan, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, Mcpherson, Meade, Miami, Mitchell, Montgomery, Morris, Morton, Nemaha, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Rawlins, Reno, Republic, Rice, Riley, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Sedgwick, Seward, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wabaunsee, Wallace, Washington, Wichita, Wilson, Woodson and Wyandotte in Kansas. Aitkin, Anoka, Becker, Beltrami, Benton, Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown, Carlton, Carver, Cass, Chippewa, Chisago, Clay, Clearwater, Cook, Cottonwood, Crow Wing, Dakota, Dodge, Douglas, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Grant, Hennepin, Houston, Hubbard, Isanti, Itasca, Jackson, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Kittson, Koochiching, Lac Qui Parle, Lake, Lake Of The Woods, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Mahnomen, Marshall, Martin, Mcleod, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Mower, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Norman, Olmsted, Otter Tail, Pennington, Pine, Pipestone, Polk, Pope, Ramsey, Red Lake, Redwood, Renville, Rice, Rock, Roseau, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, St. Louis, Stearns, Steele, Stevens, Swift, Todd, Traverse, Wabasha, Wadena, Waseca, Washington, Watonwan, Wilkin, Winona, Wright and Yellow Medicine in Minnesota. Adams, Antelope, Arthur, Banner, Blaine, Boone, Box Butte, Boyd, Brown, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass, Cedar, Chase, Cherry, Cheyenne, Clay, Colfax, Cuming, Custer, Dakota, Dawes, Dawson, Deuel, Dixon, Dodge, Douglas, Dundy, Fillmore, Franklin, Frontier, Furnas, Gage, Garden, Garfield, Gosper, Grant, Greeley, Hall, Hamilton, Harlan, Hayes, Hitchcock, Holt, Hooker, Howard, Jefferson, Johnson, Kearney, Keith, Keya Paha, Kimball, Knox, Lancaster, Lincoln, Logan, Loup, Madison, Mcpherson, Merrick, Morrill, Nance, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Otoe, Pawnee, Perkins, Phelps, Pierce, Platte, Polk, Red Willow, Richardson, Rock, Saline, Sarpy, Saunders, Scotts Bluff, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Sioux, Stanton, Thayer, Thomas, Thurston, Valley, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler and York in Nebraska. Adair, Alfalfa, Atoka, Beaver, Beckham, Blaine, Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw, Cimarron, Cleveland, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Creek, Custer, Delaware, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Grant, Greer, Harmon, Harper, Haskell, Hughes, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnston, Kay, Kingfisher, Kiowa, Latimer, Le Flore, Lincoln, Logan, Love, Major, Marshall, Mayes, Mcclain, Mccurtain, Mcintosh, Murray, Muskogee, Noble, Nowata, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Roger Mills, Rogers, Seminole, Sequoyah, Stephens, Texas, Tillman, Tulsa, Wagoner, Washington, Washita, Woods and Woodward in Oklahoma. Mitchell in Texas. Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Carbon, Converse, Crook, Fremont, Goshen, Hot Springs, Johnson, Laramie, Lincoln, Natrona, Niobrara, Park, Platte, Sheridan, Sublette, Sweetwater, Teton, Uinta, Washakie and Weston in Wyoming
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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