Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Repatriation Records — NAGPRA Database

The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Where Native American remains made available for return to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma 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 147 Native Americans with no location information were made available for return to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.

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 38 institutions made Native American remains available for return to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.

Institution	Remains Made Available for Return To Tribe
Indiana University	725
Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History	495
Michigan State University	195
U.S. Department of Justice	138
University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology	127
Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology	114
Grand Valley State University	113
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation, State of Indiana	103
University of Iowa, Office of the State Archaeologist	75
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Department of Anthropology	61
Field Museum	42
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne-Archaeological Survey	38
Hamilton County Department of Parks and Recreation	34
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology	33
Princeton University	13
University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh	13
Indiana Department of Transportation	12
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology	12
Allen County Museum, Fort Wayne Historical Society	9
Museum of Ojibwa Culture and Marquette Mission Park - City of St. Ignace	8
Coe College	7
Historical Society of Saginaw County, Inc.	7
Denver Museum of Nature and Science	5
Ball State University, Applied Anthropology Laboratories	4
American Museum of Natural History	2
Detroit Institute of Arts	2
MetroParks of the Toledo Area	2
Appalachian State University, Department of Anthropology	1
Berrien County Sheriff's Office	1
Cincinnati Museum Center, Museum of Natural History and Science	1
City of Traverse City	1
Harvard University	1
Heard Museum	1
Michigan State Historic Preservation Office	1
Oregon State University	1
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History	1
U.S. Department of the Interior	1
Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History	1

Timeline of Native American remains made available for return to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma

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 33,200 Native Americans that were taken from counties known to be of interest to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.

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	6,494
Illinois State Museum	6,255
Indiana Univ.	4,637 Dept. of Anthropology (3,897) Glenn A. Black Lab. of Archeology (740)
Harvard Univ.	2,116 Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (2,115) Warren Anatomical Museum (1)
Center for American Archeology, Kampsville Archeological Center	1,913
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia	1,682
Milwaukee Public Museum	1,499
Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale	785
Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	730
Univ. of Michigan	651
Field Museum	582
Cincinnati Museum Center	517
Dept. of Defense	493 St. Louis District (472) National Museum of Health and Medicine (14) Rock Island District (5) St. Paul District (2)
Cleveland Museum of Natural History	414
Dayton Museum of Natural History	388
Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site	383
Univ. of Kentucky	338
Ball State Univ.	233
Univ. of Louisville	226
Indiana State Univ.	224
Univ. of Toledo	210
Missouri Dept. of Transportation	182
Wisconsin Historical Society	176 Museum Division (135) Historic Preservation Division (41)
American Museum of Natural History	163
Dept. of the Interior	154 Hopewell Culture NHP (134) 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)
Gilcrease Museum	145
Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources	141
Univ. of Cincinnati	140
Univ. of Wisconsin, Oshkosh	138
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation	68
Allen County Museum and Historical Society	65
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville	64 Dept. of Anthropology (63) Frank H. McClung Museum (1)
Western Kentucky Univ.	60 Dept. of Folk Studies and Anthropology (59) Kentucky Museum (1)
Oshkosh Public Museum	55
Univ. of Wisconsin, La Crosse	49
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology	46
Northern Kentucky Univ.	44
Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History	42
Purdue Univ.	42
Mutter Museum, College of Physicians of Philadelphia	40
Univ. of Iowa	39
Grand Rapids Public Museum	36
Dept. of Agriculture	36 Shawnee NF (25) Hoosier NF (5) Wayne NF (5) Mark Twain NF (1)
Cleveland State Univ.	35
Univ. of Pennsylvania	30
Heidelberg Univ.	26
Neville Public Museum	26
Western Illinois Univ.	26
Cook County Forest Preserve District	23
Michigan State Historic Preservation Office	23
Lawrence Univ.	22
State Museum of Pennsylvania	22
Stanford Univ. Heritage Services	19
Earlham College	18
Univ. of Kansas	17
Univ. of Missouri, St. Louis	16
Wayne State Univ.	14
Dept. of Energy	13
Cranbrook Institute of Science	11
Univ. of Nebraska State Museum	11
Charleston Museum	9
Ohio Univ.	9
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	9
Hastings Museum	8
New Harmony Workingmen's Institute	8
Tippecanoe County Historical Association	8
Clark County Historical Museum	7
Filson Historical Society	7
Carnegie Museum of Natural History	6
Missouri Historical Society	6
Univ. of Notre Dame	6
Washington Univ.	6
Hardin County Historical Museums	5
Kenosha Public Museum	5
Tioga Point Museum	5
Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee	5
Western Reserve Historical Society	5
Henry County Historical Society	4
San Bernardino County Museum	4
Univ. of Indianapolis	4
Univ. of Memphis	4
Brigham Young Univ.	3
Elgin Public Museum	3
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council	3
New York State Museum	3
Univ. of Florida	3
Univ. of Southern Indiana	3
Alma College	2
Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum	2
Kansas City Museum	2
Kansas State Univ.	2
Madison County Historical Society	2
Rochester Museum and Science Center	2
St. Joseph Museums, Inc.	2
The History Museum	2
Washington County Historical Society	2
Buffalo Museum of Science	1
Louisiana State Exhibit Museum	1
Miami County Museum	1
Mississippi State Univ.	1
Museum of Osteopathic Medicine	1
New York Univ.	1
Palmer Foundation for Chiropractic History	1
Putnam Museum	1
Southeast Missouri State Univ.	1
Springfield Science Museum	1
Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer	1
Univ. of California, Berkeley	1
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison	1
Wichita State Univ.	1
Yale Univ.	1

Counties of interest used in estimate include: Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cedar, Chickasaw, Clayton, Clinton, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Grundy, Henry, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine, Poweshiek, Scott, Tama, Van Buren, Washington and Winneshiek 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, La Salle, 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. Adams, Allen, Bartholomew, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur, Dekalb, Delaware, Dubois, Elkhart, Fayette, Floyd, Fountain, Franklin, Fulton, Gibson, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Harrison, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jasper, Jay, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Kosciusko, La Porte, Lagrange, Lake, Laporte, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Newton, Noble, Ohio, Orange, Owen, Parke, Perry, Pike, Porter, Posey, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Ripley, Rush, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, St. Joseph, Starke, Steuben, Sullivan, Switzerland, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Union, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, Warrick, Washington, Wayne, Wells, White and Whitley in Indiana. Linn and Miami in Kansas. Ballard, Boone, Bracken, Breckinridge, Campbell, Carroll, Crittenden, Daviess, Gallatin, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Jefferson, Kenton, Livingston, Logan, Mccracken, Meade, Oldham, Pendleton, Trimble and Union in Kentucky. 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. Andrew, Atchison, Boone, Buchanan, Callaway, Cape Girardeau, Carroll, Chariton, Clark, Clay, Cole, Cooper, Franklin, Gasconade, Holt, Howard, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lewis, Lincoln, Marion, Mississippi, Moniteau, New Madrid, Osage, Pemiscot, Perry, Pike, Platte, Ralls, Ray, Saline, Scott, St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve and Warren in Missouri. Clay, De Soto, Hancock, Lafayette, Lee, Monroe, Montgomery, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Tate, Tunica, Union, Warren, Washington, Webster and Yalobusha in Mississippi. Nance and Sarpy in Nebraska. Adams, Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Athens, Auglaize, Belmont, Brown, Butler, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Darke, Defiance, Delaware, Erie, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Gallia, Geauga, Greene, Guernsey, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Huron, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Lawrence, Licking, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Medina, Meigs, Mercer, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Ottawa, Paulding, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Portage, Preble, Putnam, Richland, Ross, Sandusky, Scioto, Seneca, Shelby, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Union, Van Wert, Vinton, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Williams, Wood and Wyandot in Ohio. Ottawa in Oklahoma. 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 Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. 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.