Delaware Nation Repatriation Records — NAGPRA Database

The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Where Native American remains made available for return to the Delaware Nation 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

Note: Remains of 22 Native Americans with no location information were made available for return to the Delaware Nation.

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 63 institutions made Native American remains available for return to the Delaware Nation.

Institution	Remains Made Available for Return To Tribe
West Virginia Division of Culture and History	1,031
Indiana University	725
History Nebraska	586
New Jersey State Museum	208
American Museum of Natural History	192
University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology	123
Grand Valley State University	113
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation, State of Indiana	102
New York State Museum	80
U.S. Department of the Interior	64
State Museum of Pennsylvania	58
University of Iowa, Office of the State Archaeologist	54
Harvard University	51
Rochester Museum and Science Center	44
Michigan State University	40
U.S. Department of Defense	40
Marshall University	38
Field Museum	37
Hamilton County Department of Parks and Recreation	34
SUNY, University at Albany	30
Seton Hall University	26
Princeton University	17
SUNY, Binghamton, Department of Anthropology	17
Indiana Department of Transportation	12
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology	11
Temple University, Department of Anthropology	9
Museum of Ojibwa Culture and Marquette Mission Park - City of St. Ignace	8
Coe College	7
Historical Society of Saginaw County, Inc.	7
Mutter Museum, College of Physicians of Philadelphia	6
Fort Ticonderoga	5
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Phillips Academy	5
Ball State University, Applied Anthropology Laboratories	4
Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences	4
University of California, Berkeley	4
Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology	3
Brooklyn Children's Museum	3
Gilcrease Museum	3
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology	3
Michigan State Police	3
Oregon State University	3
Texas A and M University	3
U.S. Department of Justice	3
Valentine Museum	3
Virginia Living Museum	3
Warren County Cultural and Heritage Commission, Shippen Manor	3
Bruce Museum	2
Denver Museum of Nature and Science	2
Historic Hugeuenot Street	2
MetroParks of the Toledo Area	2
Moravian Historical Society	2
Southern Methodist University	2
Athens County Historical Society and Museum	1
Berrien County Sheriff's Office	1
Carnegie Museum of Natural History	1
City of Traverse City	1
Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum	1
Lambertville Historical Society	1
Michigan State Historic Preservation Office	1
Morris Museum	1
New York University, College of Dentistry	1
Ohio History Connection (formerly the Ohio Historical Society)	1
Sandusky Library, Follett House Museum	1

Timeline of Native American remains made available for return to the Delaware Nation

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 13,200 Native Americans that were taken from counties known to be of interest to the Delaware Nation.

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.

Institution	Remains Not Made Available for Return That Were Taken From Counties of Interest to the Tribe
Ohio History Connection	5,166
State Museum of Pennsylvania	854
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources	676
Indiana Univ.	504 Glenn A. Black Lab. of Archeology (349) Dept. of Anthropology (155)
Carnegie Museum of Natural History	487
Univ. of Michigan	487
Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site	383
Univ. of Kentucky	315
Harvard Univ.	279
Dept. of Defense	257 Tulsa District (109) Little Rock District (65) Fort Worth District (40) Pittsburgh District (13) National Museum of Health and Medicine (9) Norfolk District (9) Baltimore District (7) Aberdeen Proving Ground (3) Omaha District (1) St. Louis District (1)
Univ. of Louisville	241
Field Museum	238
Illinois State Museum	220
Univ. of Toledo	197
Dept. of the Interior	189 Hopewell Culture NHP (134) Buffalo National River (53) Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP (1) Reclamation, Great Plains Region, Nebraska-Kansas Area Office (1)
California Univ. of Pennsylvania	183
Ball State Univ.	179
Maryland Historical Trust	170
West Virginia Division of Culture and History	152
Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	149
Indiana State Univ.	139
Cleveland Museum of Natural History	130
Univ. of Texas at Austin	120
Univ. of Kansas	117
North Museum of Nature and Science	115
Temple Univ.	115
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia	110
American Museum of Natural History	102
Allen County Museum and Historical Society	65
Museum of Texas Tech Univ.	60
Western Kentucky Univ.	59 Dept. of Folk Studies and Anthropology (58) Kentucky Museum (1)
Dayton Museum of Natural History	56
Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale	51
Northern Kentucky Univ.	48
Center for American Archeology, Kampsville Archeological Center	45
Univ. of Oklahoma	43 Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (40) Oklahoma Archeological Survey (3)
Yale Univ.	40
Tioga Point Museum	36
Cleveland State Univ.	35
Gilcrease Museum	30
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology	28
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation	27
Univ. of Pennsylvania	27
Grand Rapids Public Museum	26
Kansas State Historical Society	24
Missouri State Univ.	20
Rochester Museum and Science Center	18
SUNY Univ. at Buffalo	14
Wayne State Univ.	14
Heidelberg Univ.	13
Michigan State Historic Preservation Office	12
Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources	11
Nassau County Dept. of Parks and Recreation	11
New York State Museum	10
Dept. of Agriculture	10 Shawnee NF (4) George Washington and Jefferson NF (3) Mark Twain NF (2) Wayne NF (1)
Charleston Museum	9
Hastings Museum	9
Ohio Univ.	9
Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	9
New Harmony Workingmen's Institute	8
Tippecanoe County Historical Association	8
Clark County Historical Museum	7
Purdue Univ.	7
Univ. of Arkansas	7
Warren County Historical Society	7
New York Univ.	6
Univ. of North Texas	6
West Texas A and M Univ.	6
Pennsylvania State Univ.	5
Univ. of Akron	5
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville	5
Western Reserve Historical Society	5
Springfield Science Museum	4
Univ. of Nebraska State Museum	4
Earlham College	3
Henry County Historical Society	3
Univ. of Florida	3
Univ. of Memphis	3
Univ. of Missouri, St. Louis	3
Univ. of Southern Indiana	3
Alma College	2
Brigham Young Univ.	2
Goshen College	2
Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum	2
Seton Hall Univ.	2
Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer	2
Barnum Museum	1
Bridgewater College	1
Cass County Historical Society Museum	1
Chemung Valley Historical Society	1
Colgate Univ.	1
Fort Worth Museum Science and History	1
Grayson County Frontier Village Museum	1
Lackawanna Historical Society	1
Louisiana State Exhibit Museum	1
Madison County Historical Society	1
Milwaukee Public Museum	1
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council	1
Murray State Univ.	1
Newark Museum	1
No Man's Land Historical Society	1
SUNY, Binghamton	1
San Bernardino County Museum	1
Southeast Missouri State Univ.	1
Texas A and M Univ.	1
Texas Dept. of Transportation	1
Texas Historical Commission	1
Univ. of Notre Dame	1

Counties of interest used in estimate include: Baxter, Carroll, Clay, Franklin, Greene, Izard, Lafayette, Logan, Marion, Miller, Pope, Searcy, Stone, Van Buren and Yell in Arkansas. Fairfield in Connecticut. Kent, New Castle and Sussex in Delaware. Alexander, Gallatin, Hancock, Jo Daviess, Lawrence, Mclean, Randolph and White in Illinois. Bartholomew, Delaware, Dubois, Floyd, Hamilton, Harrison, Henry, Knox, La Porte, Madison, Marion, Orange, Posey, Steuben, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Washington and Wells in Indiana. Douglas, Johnson, Leavenworth and Wyandotte in Kansas. Ballard, Boone, Bracken, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Caldwell, Calloway, Campbell, Carlisle, Carroll, Crittenden, Daviess, Fulton, Gallatin, Graves, Greenup, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Hickman, Jefferson, Kenton, Lewis, Livingston, Marshall, Mason, Mccracken, Meade, Oldham, Pendleton, Trimble and Union in Kentucky. Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, Kent, Montgomery, Prince George's, Queen Anne's, Somerset, St. Mary's, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester in Maryland. Allegan, Berrien, Emmet, Hillsdale, Ionia, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Mackinac, Macomb, Mecosta, Missaukee, Monroe, Newaygo, Ottawa, Saginaw and Wayne in Michigan. Barry, Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Christian, Crawford, Greene, Lawrence, Madison, Monroe, Perry, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Stone, Taney, Wayne and Webster in Missouri. Adams, Antelope, Boone, Boyd, Burt, Cass, Cedar, Chase, Cherry, Cuming, Custer, Dakota, Dawes, Dawson, Dixon, Dodge, Douglas, Dundy, Franklin, Frontier, Furnas, Gage, Garden, Garfield, Hall, Harlan, Hitchcock, Hooker, Howard, Keith, Keya Paha, Knox, Lancaster, Lincoln, Mcpherson, Morrill, Nance, Nemaha, Platte, Red Willow, Richardson, Sarpy, Saunders, Sherman, Sioux, Stanton, Thayer, Valley, Washington and Webster in Nebraska. Allen, Ashland, Athens, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Erie, Fairfield, Franklin, Guernsey, Harrison, Hocking, Jefferson, Knox, Licking, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Marion, Meigs, Miami, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Ottawa, Perry, Portage, Richland, Ross, Sandusky, Scioto, Summit, Tuscarawas, Union and Washington in Ohio. Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Choctaw, Comanche, Garfield, Garvin, Kingfisher and Mcclain in Oklahoma. Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Cameron, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Crawford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mckean, Mercer, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Potter, Schuylkill, Snyder, Somerset, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Venango, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westmoreland, Wyoming and York in Pennsylvania. Cherokee, Cooke, Crockett, Delta, Denton, Grayson, Henderson, Hill, Johnson, Kaufman, Leon, Red River, Reeves, Smith, Somervell, Tarrant, Taylor, Williamson and Young in Texas. Accomack, Albemarle, Alexandria, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Bristol, Brunswick, Buchanan, Buckingham, Buena Vista, Campbell, Caroline, Carroll, Charles City, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Chesterfield, Clarke, Colonial Heights, Covington, Craig, Culpeper, Cumberland, Danville, Dickenson, Dinwiddie, Emporia, Essex, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fauquier, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Frederick, Fredericksburg, Galax, Giles, Gloucester, Goochland, Grayson, Greene, Greensville, Halifax, Hampton, Hanover, Harrisonburg, Henrico, Henry, Highland, Hopewell, Isle Of Wight, James City, King And Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Lee, Lexington, Loudoun, Louisa, Lunenburg, Lynchburg, Madison, Manassas, Manassas Park, Martinsville, Mathews, Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Montgomery, Nelson, New Kent, Newport News, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, Norton, Nottoway, Orange, Page, Patrick, Petersburg, Pittsylvania, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, Prince William, Pulaski, Radford, Rappahannock, Richmond, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Russell, Salem, Scott, Shenandoah, Smyth, Southampton, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Staunton, Suffolk, Surry, Sussex, Tazewell, Virginia Beach, Warren, Washington, Waynesboro, Westmoreland, Williamsburg, Winchester, Wise, Wythe and York in Virginia. Addison in Vermont.

Search for institutions holding Native American remains and tribes seeking to reclaim them

Try the University of California, Berkeley, the Chickasaw Nation or Arizona.

Institutions that have not submitted information to the federal government are not listed.

These tribes were also listed when institutions culturally affiliated Native American remains to the Delaware Nation. 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.

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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

by Ash Ngu and Andrea Suozzo Jan. 11, 2023 Data from Nov. 29, 2023 Additional reporting by Asia Fields, Mary Hudetz and Logan Jaffe for ProPublica and Graham Brewer for NBC News. Additional development by Alec Glassford.