Muscogee (Creek) Nation Repatriation Records — NAGPRA Database

The Repatriation Database Data from Jan. 6, 2025

Where Native American remains made available for return to the Muscogee (Creek) 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 17 Native Americans with no location information were made available for return to the Muscogee (Creek) 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 60 institutions made Native American remains available for return to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Institution	Remains Made Available for Return To Tribe
University of Alabama Museums	10,745
Tennessee Valley Authority	6,628
Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History	495
University of California, San Diego	478
Georgia Department of Natural Resources	406
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology	228
Fernbank Museum of Natural History	217
U.S. Department of the Interior	165
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Phillips Academy	137
University of Georgia, Department of Anthropology	121
Alabama Department of Archives & History	115
U.S. Department of Defense	113
Florida State University, Department of Anthropology	72
Bishop Museum of Science and Nature	68
Columbus Museum	68
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Anthropology	65
University of Tennessee, Knoxville	62
Harvard University	60
Gilcrease Museum	54
University of South Carolina, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology	36
Alabama Department of Transportation	34
Columbus State University	28
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology	24
Georgia State University	23
Jacksonville State University	21
Pittsburg State University	19
New York University, College of Dentistry	11
Auburn University	7
University of South Alabama, Center for Archaeological Studies	7
Indiana University	5
University of Oklahoma	5
Grand Rapids Public Museum	4
Historic Westville	4
Bryn Mawr College	3
Field Museum	3
Florida Department of State	3
Valentine Museum	3
Virginia Living Museum	3
Amherst College, Beneski Museum of Natural History	2
Anniston Museum of Natural History	2
Augusta State University	2
Denver Museum of Nature and Science	2
Emory University, Michael C. Carlos Museum	2
Southern Methodist University	2
U.S. Department of Agriculture	2
University of Denver, Museum of Anthropology	2
University of West Georgia	2
Western Kentucky University	2
Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History	2
American Museum of Natural History	1
Appalachian State University, Department of Anthropology	1
Baylor University, Mayborn Museum Complex	1
Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology	1
Bruce Museum	1
Colgate University, Longyear Museum of Anthropology	1
Florence Indian Mound Museum	1
Georgia Department of Transportation	1
University of California, Riverside	1
University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology	1
Wistar Institute	1

Timeline of Native American remains made available for return to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation

Tribal and institutional capacity, funding, staffing, regulatory changes, audits, Review Committee decisions and litigation may influence timelines. Under NAGPRA, institutions make Native American remains available for return and determine whether they are culturally affiliated using evidence such as tribal traditional knowledge and biological and archaeological links. From 2010 to 2024, remains could also be returned through disposition based on geographic affiliation. Institutions can also determine that remains are culturally unidentifiable. Tribes may request the transfer of these remains, or they may be reinterred by the institution.

These institutions have not made available for return the remains of at least 15,700 Native Americans that were taken from counties known to be of interest to the Muscogee (Creek) 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
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville	2,880 Frank H. McClung Museum (1,955) Dept. of Anthropology (925)
Univ. of Florida	2,489
Univ. of Alabama	2,404
Florida Dept. of State	1,332
Univ. of Oklahoma	1,027 Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (1,020) Oklahoma Archeological Survey (7)
Auburn Univ.	762
Harvard Univ.	708
Dept. of Defense	672 Tulsa District (256) Mobile District (224) Nashville District (104) Fort Worth District (53) National Museum of Health and Medicine (30) Hurlburt Air Field (2) Fort Benning (1) Little Rock District (1) Vicksburg District (1)
Univ. of Georgia	473
Florida State Univ.	312
Tennessee Dept. of Environment and Conservation	296
Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History	278
Mississippi State Univ.	188
Dept. of the Interior	159 Southeast Archeological Center (65) Ocmulgee Mounds NHP (55) Big South Fork NRRA (22) St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (7) Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (4) Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (2) Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge (1) Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge (1) Santee National Wildlife Refuge (1) St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge (1)
Univ. of Pennsylvania	145
Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources	130
Graves Museum of Archaeology and Natural History	127
Univ. of South Carolina, SCIAA	127
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources	107
American Museum of Natural History	103
Sarasota County History Center	93
Yale Univ.	81
Western Kentucky Univ.	75
Charleston Museum	62
Univ. of South Alabama	52
Univ. of Miami	45
South Carolina Dept. of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism	42
Anniston Museum of Natural History	38
Ohio History Connection	35
Univ. of Southern Mississippi	35
Field Museum	33
Kansas State Historical Society	32
Milwaukee Public Museum	26
Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	25
Georgia Southern Univ.	22
Wagner Free Institute of Science	22
Augusta Museum of History	21
Louisiana State Univ.	19 Museum of Natural Science (14) Dept. of Anthropology (5)
Tennessee Valley Authority	19
Louisiana Dept. of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism	17
Nassau County Dept. of Parks and Recreation	17
Dept. of Agriculture	16 Ocala NF (10) Francis Marion and Sumter NF (5) Chattahoochee-Oconee NF (1)
Auburn Univ. at Montgomery	15
Univ. of Kentucky	15
Univ. of West Florida	14
Univ. of Michigan	13
Dartmouth College	11
Wisconsin Historical Society	11
Univ. of Texas at Austin	10
Poverty Point World Heritage Site	9
Univ. of Memphis	9
Wake Forest Univ., Archeology Labs	9
Dayton Museum of Natural History	7
Univ. of Louisiana at Monroe	7
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology	6
Dept. of Energy	6
Univ. of Arkansas	6 Museum (5) Arkansas Archeological Survey (1)
Columbus Museum	5
Houston Museum of Natural Science	5
Indiana Univ.	5 Glenn A. Black Lab. of Archeology (4) Dept. of Anthropology (1)
Spratt-Mead Museum	5
Texas A and M Univ.	5
Gilcrease Museum	4
Rochester Museum and Science Center	4
San Bernardino County Museum	4
State Museum of Pennsylvania	4
Texas State Univ.	4
Univ. of Kansas	4
Beloit College	3
Bridgewater College	3
New York State Museum	3
Carnegie Museum of Natural History	2
Hastings Museum	2
Loxahatchee Historical Society	2
Seton Hall Univ.	2
Tioga Point Museum	2
Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	2
Univ. of Nebraska State Museum	2
Univ. of Tennessee, Chattanooga	2
West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History	2
Cleveland Museum of Natural History	1
Earlham College	1
Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium	1
Fort Smith Museum of History	1
Georgia Power	1
Louisiana Cultural Heritage Museum	1
Louisiana State Exhibit Museum	1
Mercyhurst Univ.	1
Missouri Historical Society	1
No Man's Land Historical Society	1
Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science	1
Rutgers Univ.	1
Texas Historical Commission	1
Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham	1
Univ. of California, Berkeley	1
Univ. of South Florida	1
Univ. of Tulsa	1
Washington Univ.	1

Counties of interest used in estimate include: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, Dallas, De Kalb, Dekalb, Elmore, Escambia, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Wilcox and Winston in Alabama. Arkansas, Chicot, Conway, Crawford, Crittenden, Cross, Desha, Faulkner, Franklin, Grant, Jefferson, Johnson, Lee, Lincoln, Little River, Logan, Lonoke, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Sebastian, St. Francis, White, Woodruff and Yell in Arkansas. Kings in California. Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, Desoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Indian River, Jackson, Jefferson, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Walton and Washington in Florida. Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Calhoun, Camden, Candler, Carroll, Catoosa, Charlton, Chatham, Chattahoochee, Cherokee, Clarke, Clay, Clayton, Clinch, Cobb, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Coweta, Crawford, Crisp, Dade, Dawson, Decatur, Dekalb, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Douglas, Early, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton, Gilmer, Glascock, Gordon, Grady, Greene, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Hart, Heard, Henry, Houston, Irwin, Jackson, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, Lumpkin, Macon, Madison, Marion, Mcduffie, Mcintosh, Meriwether, Miller, Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Peach, Pierce, Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Quitman, Rabun, Randolph, Richmond, Rockdale, Schley, Screven, Seminole, Spalding, Stephens, Sumter, Talbot, Tattnall, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Towns, Treutlen, Troup, Turner, Union, Upson, Walker, Walton, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, White, Whitfield, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson and Worth in Georgia. Coffey, Elk, Franklin, Greenwood, Jackson, Jefferson, Lyon, Osage, Pottawatomie, Shawnee, Wabaunsee and Woodson in Kansas. Allen, Bell, Calloway, Christian, Clinton, Cumberland, Fulton, Livingston, Lyon, Marshall, Mccracken, Monroe, Simpson and Trigg in Kentucky. Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Concordia, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Iberville, Madison, Orleans, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John The Baptist, St. Tammany, Tensas, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana in Louisiana. Adams, Amite, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Claiborne, Clay, Coahoma, Copiah, De Soto, Desoto, Franklin, Hancock, Harrison, Issaquena, Itawamba, Jackson, Jefferson, Kemper, Lafayette, Lee, Lowndes, Madison, Marshall, Monroe, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson and Yalobusha in Mississippi. Bryan, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Haskell, Hughes, Le Flore, Lincoln, Marshall, Mayes, Mccurtain, Mcintosh, Muskogee, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Rogers, Seminole, Sequoyah, Tulsa and Wagoner in Oklahoma. Anderson, Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Cannon, Carter, Cheatham, Chester, Claiborne, Clay, Cocke, Coffee, Cumberland, Davidson, De Kalb, Decatur, Dekalb, Dickson, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Giles, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardeman, Hardin, Hawkins, Henry, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, Macon, Marion, Marshall, Maury, Mcminn, Mcnairy, Meigs, Monroe, Montgomery, Moore, Morgan, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Polk, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Robertson, Rutherford, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Shelby, Smith, Stewart, Sullivan, Sumner, Tipton, Trousdale, Unicoi, Union, Van Buren, Warren, Washington, Wayne, White, Williamson and Wilson in Tennessee. Angelina, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Collin, Cooke, Delta, Denton, Fannin, Franklin, Gregg, Hardin, Harrison, Hopkins, Hunt, Lamar, Marion, Morris, Panola, Polk, Rains, Rusk, San Jacinto, Titus, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur and Wood in Texas. Bristol, Grayson, Scott and Smyth in Virginia.

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.

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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 Jan. 6, 2025 Additional reporting by Asia Fields, Mary Hudetz and Logan Jaffe for ProPublica and Graham Brewer for NBC News. Additional development by Alec Glassford.