Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Repatriation Records — NAGPRA Database

The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Where Native American remains made available for return to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin 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 12 Native Americans with no location information were made available for return to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.

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 28 institutions made Native American remains available for return to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.

Institution	Remains Made Available for Return To Tribe
Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology	105
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Department of Anthropology	92
Wisconsin Historical Society	85
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Department of Anthropology	61
University of Iowa, Office of the State Archaeologist	60
Field Museum	52
Neville Public Museum	44
Michigan State University	33
University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology	30
U.S. Department of the Interior	26
University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh	14
Michigan State Historic Preservation Office	9
Michigan History Center	8
Coe College	7
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology	7
Oshkosh Public Museum	5
Harvard University	3
Museum of Ojibwa Culture and Marquette Mission Park - City of St. Ignace	3
Outagamie County Historical Society	3
Denver Museum of Nature and Science	2
Detroit Institute of Arts	2
University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point	2
American Museum of Natural History	1
Berkshire Museum	1
S'edav Va'aki Museum	1
Sheboygan County Historical Museum	1
The Region of Three Oaks Museum	1
University of Colorado Museum	1

Timeline of Native American remains made available for return to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin

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 17,100 Native Americans that were taken from counties known to be of interest to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.

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
Illinois State Museum	6,146
Indiana Univ.	3,329 Dept. of Anthropology (3,328) Glenn A. Black Lab. of Archeology (1)
Center for American Archeology, Kampsville Archeological Center	1,913
Milwaukee Public Museum	1,498
Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale	785
Univ. of Michigan	645
Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	604
Dept. of Defense	562 St. Louis District (472) Rock Island District (81) National Museum of Health and Medicine (7) St. Paul District (2)
Harvard Univ.	322 Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (321) Warren Anatomical Museum (1)
Field Museum	195
Wisconsin Historical Society	182 Museum Division (141) Historic Preservation Division (41)
Univ. of Wisconsin, Oshkosh	138
Gilcrease Museum	116
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council	77
Univ. of Iowa	59
Oshkosh Public Museum	55
Univ. of Wisconsin, La Crosse	49
Mutter Museum, College of Physicians of Philadelphia	39
Dept. of the Interior	38 Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge (15) Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (10) Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge (4) Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (3) Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge (3) Voyageurs NP (3)
Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth	38
American Museum of Natural History	26
Neville Public Museum	26
Western Illinois Univ.	26
Dept. of Agriculture	25
Cook County Forest Preserve District	23
Michigan State Historic Preservation Office	23
Lawrence Univ.	22
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia	22
Grand Rapids Public Museum	19
Stanford Univ. Heritage Services	19
Univ. of Nebraska State Museum	17
Univ. of Toledo	14
Wayne State Univ.	14
Cranbrook Institute of Science	11
Univ. of Pennsylvania	9
Hastings Museum	7
Ball State Univ.	6
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology	6
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville	6 Dept. of Anthropology (5) Frank H. McClung Museum (1)
Goodhue County Historical Society	5
Kenosha Public Museum	5
Elgin Public Museum	3
New York State Museum	3
Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee	3
Alma College	2
Brigham Young Univ.	2
Madison County Historical Society	2
Minnesota Historical Society	2
Rochester Museum and Science Center	2
State Museum of Pennsylvania	2
Washington County Historical Society	2
Carnegie Museum of Natural History	1
Cleveland Museum of Natural History	1
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation	1
Louisiana State Exhibit Museum	1
New York Univ.	1
Palmer Foundation for Chiropractic History	1
Putnam Museum	1
Springfield Science Museum	1
Univ. of California, Berkeley	1
Univ. of Kansas	1
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison	1
Wichita State Univ.	1

Counties of interest used in estimate include: Adair, Adams, Allamakee, Appanoose, Audubon, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Clarke, Clay, Clayton, Clinton, Crawford, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Delaware, Des Moines, Dickinson, Dubuque, Emmet, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Howard, Humboldt, Ida, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Kossuth, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Lucas, Lyon, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Mills, Mitchell, Monona, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscatine, O'brien, Osceola, Page, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Polk, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Sac, Scott, Shelby, Sioux, Story, Tama, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Woodbury, Worth and Wright in Iowa. Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Cook, Crawford, Cumberland, De Witt, Dekalb, Douglas, Dupage, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Fulton, Gallatin, Greene, Grundy, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lake, Lasalle, Lawrence, Lee, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Massac, Mcdonough, Mchenry, Mclean, Menard, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Perry, Piatt, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Richland, Rock Island, Saline, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, St. Clair, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Union, Vermilion, Wabash, Warren, Washington, Wayne, White, Whiteside, Will, Williamson, Winnebago and Woodford in Illinois. Delaware in Indiana. Alcona, Alger, Allegan, Alpena, Antrim, Arenac, Baraga, Barry, Bay, Benzie, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Clare, Clinton, Crawford, Delta, Dickinson, Eaton, Emmet, Genesee, Gladwin, Gogebic, Grand Traverse, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Houghton, Huron, Ingham, Ionia, Iosco, Iron, Isabella, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, Kent, Keweenaw, Lake, Lapeer, Leelanau, Lenawee, Livingston, Luce, Mackinac, Macomb, Manistee, Marquette, Mason, Mecosta, Menominee, Midland, Missaukee, Monroe, Montcalm, Montmorency, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oakland, Oceana, Ogemaw, Ontonagon, Osceola, Oscoda, Otsego, Ottawa, Presque Isle, Roscommon, Saginaw, Sanilac, Schoolcraft, Shiawassee, St. Clair, St. Joseph, Tuscola, Van Buren, Washtenaw, Wayne and Wexford in Michigan. 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, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Brown, Buffalo, Burnett, Calumet, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Door, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Florence, Fond Du Lac, Forest, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Iron, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, Kewaunee, La Crosse, Lafayette, Langlade, Lincoln, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marinette, Marquette, Menominee, Milwaukee, Monroe, Oconto, Oneida, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Portage, Price, Racine, Richland, Rock, Rusk, Sauk, Sawyer, Shawano, Sheboygan, St. Croix, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vernon, Vilas, Walworth, Washburn, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago and Wood in Wisconsin.

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 Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. 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.