Muscogee (Creek) Nation Repatriation Records — NAGPRA Database

The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

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 12 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 54 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	10,722
Tennessee Valley Authority	6,628
Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History	495
University of California, San Diego	478
Georgia Department of Natural Resources	405
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology	189
U.S. Department of the Interior	158
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Phillips Academy	116
U.S. Department of Defense	110
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
Fernbank Museum of Natural History	60
Gilcrease Museum	38
Alabama Department of Archives & History	37
Alabama Department of Transportation	34
Columbus State University	28
Georgia State University	23
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology	23
Pittsburg State University	19
University of Georgia, Department of Anthropology	18
Harvard University	9
University of South Alabama, Center for Archaeological Studies	7
University of Oklahoma	5
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
Auburn University	2
Augusta State University	2
Denver Museum of Nature and Science	2
Emory University, Michael C. Carlos Museum	2
Indiana University	2
New York University, College of Dentistry	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
Florence Indian Mound Museum	1
Georgia Department of Transportation	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 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 17,800 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	3,608 Frank H. McClung Museum (2,677) Dept. of Anthropology (931)
Univ. of Florida	2,493
Univ. of Alabama	2,404
Univ. of Oklahoma	1,885 Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (1,881) Oklahoma Archeological Survey (4)
Florida Dept. of State	1,331
Harvard Univ.	836
Auburn Univ.	767
Dept. of the Interior	639 Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge (178) Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (138) St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (84) Southeast Archeological Center (70) Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge (66) Ocmulgee Mounds NHP (55) Big South Fork NRRA (22) Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge (13) Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge (3) Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (3) White River National Wildlife Refuge (2) Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge (1) Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge (1) Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge (1) Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (1) St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge (1)
Dept. of Defense	637 Mobile District (224) Tulsa District (207) Nashville District (110) Fort Worth District (53) National Museum of Health and Medicine (39) Hurlburt Air Field (2) Fort Benning (1) Little Rock District (1)
Tennessee Dept. of Environment and Conservation	326
Florida State Univ.	312
Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History	278
Mississippi State Univ.	188
Univ. of South Carolina, SCIAA	178
Univ. of Pennsylvania	147
Fernbank Museum of Natural History	141
Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources	130
Graves Museum of Archaeology and Natural History	127
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources	107
American Museum of Natural History	103
Sarasota County History Center	93
Vanderbilt Univ.	86
Univ. of Georgia	70
Western Kentucky Univ.	69 Dept. of Folk Studies and Anthropology (68) Kentucky Museum (1)
Charleston Museum	59
Univ. of South Alabama	52
Univ. of Miami	45
South Carolina Dept. of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism	42
Anniston Museum of Natural History	38
Louisiana State Univ.	37 Museum of Natural Science (32) Dept. of Anthropology (5)
Alabama Dept. of Archives & History	36
Univ. of Southern Mississippi	35
Field Museum	33
Georgia Power	33
Kansas State Historical Society	32
Milwaukee Public Museum	26
Univ. of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History + Florida Dept. of State	25
HistoryMiami Museum	23
Wagner Free Institute of Science	22
Augusta Museum of History	21
Dept. of Agriculture	21 Ocala NF (15) Francis Marion and Sumter NF (5) Chattahoochee-Oconee NF (1)
Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	21
Gilcrease Museum	19
Louisiana Dept. of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism	18
Univ. of Kentucky	18
Nassau County Dept. of Parks and Recreation	17
Jacksonville State Univ.	16
Univ. of West Florida	14
Univ. of Michigan	13
Wisconsin Historical Society	11
Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga	10
Univ. of Texas at Austin	10
Poverty Point World Heritage Site	9
Univ. of Memphis	9
Wake Forest Univ., Archeology Labs	9
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology	8
Dayton Museum of Natural History	7
Ohio History Connection	7
Univ. of Louisiana at Monroe	7
Georgia Southern Univ.	6
Dept. of Energy	6
Brown Univ.	5
Columbus Museum	5
Houston Museum of Natural Science	5
Spratt-Mead Museum	5
Texas A and M Univ.	5
Univ. of Arkansas	5
Grand Rapids Public Museum	4
Indiana Univ.	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
North Carolina Office of State Archaeology	3
South Georgia State College	3
Carnegie Museum of Natural History	2
Hastings Museum	2
Loxahatchee Historical Society	2
Seton Hall Univ.	2
Tioga Point Museum	2
Univ. of California, Riverside	2
Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	2
Univ. of Nebraska State Museum	2
West Virginia Division of Culture and History	2
City of Fort Smith	1
Cleveland Museum of Natural History	1
Dartmouth College	1
Earlham College	1
Eckerd College	1
Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium	1
Louisiana Cultural Heritage Museum	1
Louisiana State Exhibit Museum	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 California, Berkeley	1
Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte	1
Univ. of South Florida	1
Univ. of Tulsa	1
Washington Univ.	1
Yale 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, 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, 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, Decatur, Dekalb, Dickson, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Giles, 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 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.