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The Repatriation Database Data from Nov. 29, 2023

Osage Nation

A federally recognized Indian tribe with headquarters in Oklahoma

Institutions reported making the remains of more than 1,200 Native Americans available for return to the Osage Nation.

The tribe was also eligible to claim more than 2,900 associated funerary objects.

Institutions continue to hold the remains of at least 30,200 Native Americans taken from counties known to be of interest to the tribe.*

Where Native American remains made available for return to the Osage 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
Swipe interaction icon
Note: Remains of three Native Americans with no location information were made available for return to the Osage 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 45 institutions made Native American remains available for return to the Osage Nation.

InstitutionRemains Made Available for Return To Tribe
Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History495
University of Arkansas221
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation, State of Indiana99
University of Iowa, Office of the State Archaeologist82
Marshall University38
Missouri Department of Natural Resources34
U.S. Department of Agriculture31
University of Tulsa, Department of Anthropology30
U.S. Department of Defense22
Illinois State Museum21
Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology19
Pittsburg State University19
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Department of Anthropology18
Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department16
St. Joseph Museums, Inc.15
Arkansas State University Museum12
Kansas State University12
Culver-Stockton College10
Gilcrease Museum9
Coe College7
Denver Museum of Nature and Science4
University of Missouri, Columbia, Museum of Anthropology4
Colorado Bureau of Investigation3
New York University, College of Dentistry3
Oregon State University3
Pioneer Museum, Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park3
Shiloh Museum of Ozark History3
Grand Rapids Public Museum2
Hastings Museum2
Museum of Natural History and Planetarium2
Appalachian State University, Department of Anthropology1
Central Methodist University1
Colgate University, Longyear Museum of Anthropology1
Harvard University1
History Museum on the Square1
Indiana University1
Kansas State Historical Society1
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History1
St. Louis Science Center1
U.S. Department of the Interior1
University of Denver, Museum of Anthropology1
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology1
University of South Florida1
Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site1
Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History1

Timeline of Native American remains made available for return to the Osage 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 30,200 Native Americans that were taken from counties known to be of interest to the Osage 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.
InstitutionRemains Not Made Available for Return That Were Taken From Counties of Interest to the Tribe
Illinois State Museum5,996
Indiana Univ.3,571
Dept. of Anthropology (3,070)
Glenn A. Black Lab. of Archeology (501)
Univ. of Kentucky2,545
Harvard Univ.2,489
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (2,488)
Warren Anatomical Museum (1)
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia2,222
Univ. of Oklahoma2,207
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (2,188)
Oklahoma Archeological Survey (19)
Center for American Archeology, Kampsville Archeological Center1,913
Dept. of Defense854
St. Louis District (473)
Tulsa District (207)
Little Rock District (74)
Vicksburg District (46)
National Museum of Health and Medicine (29)
Pittsburgh District (13)
Fort Leonard Wood (6)
Kansas City District (6)
Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale783
Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign575
Cincinnati Museum Center517
Ohio History Connection498
Carnegie Museum of Natural History484
Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site383
Univ. of Kansas362
Field Museum347
Dept. of the Interior291
Natchitoches National Fish Hatchery (100)
Buffalo National River (82)
Reclamation, Great Plains Region, Nebraska-Kansas Area Office (55)
Mammoth Cave NP (18)
Mingo National Wildlife Refuge (16)
Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (10)
Ozark National Scenic Riverways (4)
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (3)
White River National Wildlife Refuge (2)
D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge (1)
Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources283
Kansas State Historical Society276
Milwaukee Public Museum266
Univ. of Louisville247
West Virginia Division of Culture and History239
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville211
Dept. of Anthropology (210)
Frank H. McClung Museum (1)
American Museum of Natural History197
Missouri Dept. of Transportation194
Indiana State Univ.185
California Univ. of Pennsylvania183
Univ. of Cincinnati140
Gilcrease Museum135
State Museum of Pennsylvania122
West Texas A and M Univ.115
Univ. of Alabama98
Univ. of Michigan91
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology77
Wisconsin Historical Society71
Museum Division (70)
Historic Preservation Division (1)
Western Kentucky Univ.68
Dept. of Folk Studies and Anthropology (66)
Kentucky Museum (2)
Univ. of Pennsylvania60
Southeast Missouri State Univ.59
Northern Kentucky Univ.52
Dept. of Agriculture48
Shawnee NF (25)
Mark Twain NF (14)
Hoosier NF (5)
Wayne NF (4)
Cleveland Museum of Natural History47
Mutter Museum, College of Physicians of Philadelphia47
Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History44
Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources43
Yale Univ.43
Univ. of Arkansas39
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation34
Western Illinois Univ.26
New York State Museum25
Univ. of Texas at Austin23
Univ. of Nebraska State Museum22
Univ. of Iowa21
Univ. of Missouri, St. Louis21
Missouri State Univ.20
Stanford Univ. Heritage Services19
Grand Rapids Public Museum16
Univ. of Central Missouri16
Temple Univ.15
Dayton Museum of Natural History14
Ball State Univ.13
Dept. of Energy13
Hastings Museum11
Lawrence Univ.11
No Man's Land Historical Society11
Brigham Young Univ.10
Kansas State Univ.10
Ohio Univ.9
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency9
New Harmony Workingmen's Institute8
San Bernardino County Museum8
Washington Univ.8
Wichita State Univ.8
Filson Historical Society7
Missouri Historical Society7
Oshkosh Public Museum7
Tioga Point Museum7
Univ. of Memphis7
Univ. of North Texas6
Clark County Historical Museum5
Houston Museum of Natural Science5
Museum of Texas Tech Univ.5
Nassau County Dept. of Parks and Recreation5
Univ. of Akron5
Goshen College4
New York Univ.4
Univ. of Louisiana at Monroe4
Earlham College3
Kansas City Museum3
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council3
Rochester Museum and Science Center3
St. Joseph Museums, Inc.3
Univ. of Florida3
Univ. of Southern Indiana3
Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee3
Louisiana State Exhibit Museum2
Madison County Historical Society2
Pennsylvania State Univ.2
Texas A and M Univ.2
Texas Dept. of Transportation2
Trinidad State Junior College2
Univ. of California, Berkeley2
Bridgewater College1
Buffalo Museum of Science1
City of Fort Smith1
Hutchinson County Historical Museum1
Mississippi State Univ.1
Murray State Univ.1
Northwestern State Univ. of Louisiana1
Palmer Foundation for Chiropractic History1
Putnam Museum1
Springfield Science Museum1
Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer1
Univ. of California, Riverside1
Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill1
Univ. of Tulsa1
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison1
Wayne State Univ.1
Counties of interest used in estimate include: Arkansas, Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Columbia, Conway, Craighead, Crawford, Crittenden, Cross, Dallas, Desha, Faulkner, Franklin, Fulton, Garland, Grant, Greene, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Howard, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Little River, Logan, Lonoke, Madison, Marion, Miller, Mississippi, Monroe, Montgomery, Nevada, Newton, Ouachita, Perry, Phillips, Pike, Poinsett, Polk, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Scott, Searcy, Sebastian, Sevier, Sharp, St. Francis, Stone, Union, Van Buren, Washington, White, Woodruff and Yell in Arkansas. Kings in California. Baca, Bent, Kiowa and Prowers in Colorado. Clinton, Des Moines, Henry, Jackson, Lee, Louisa, Muscatine, Scott and Van Buren in Iowa. Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clinton, Coles, Douglas, Edwards, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Gallatin, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Jackson, Jefferson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Knox, Lee, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Massac, Mcdonough, Mclean, Menard, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Perry, Piatt, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Rock Island, Saline, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, St. Clair, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Union, Wabash, Warren, Washington, Wayne, White, Whiteside, Williamson, Winnebago and Woodford in Illinois. Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Delaware, Dubois, Floyd, Franklin, Gibson, Harrison, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Orange, Perry, Pike, Posey, Ripley, Scott, Spencer, Switzerland, Vanderburgh, Warrick and Washington in Indiana. Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Brown, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Edwards, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Lane, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Logan, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, Mcpherson, Meade, Miami, Mitchell, Montgomery, Morris, Morton, Nemaha, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Rawlins, Reno, Republic, Rice, Riley, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Sedgwick, Seward, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wabaunsee, Wallace, Washington, Wichita, Wilson, Woodson and Wyandotte in Kansas. Ballard, Boone, Boyd, Bracken, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Caldwell, Campbell, Carlisle, Carroll, Carter, Crittenden, Daviess, Edmonson, Fleming, Fulton, Gallatin, Grant, Graves, Grayson, Greenup, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henderson, Henry, Hickman, Jefferson, Kenton, Lawrence, Lewis, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, Mason, Mccracken, Mclean, Meade, Ohio, Oldham, Owen, Pendleton, Robertson, Rowan, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble, Union and Webster in Kentucky. Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, De Soto, Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, Union, Webster and Winn in Louisiana. Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Audrain, Barry, Barton, Bates, Benton, Bollinger, Boone, Buchanan, Butler, Caldwell, Callaway, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Carroll, Carter, Cass, Cedar, Chariton, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Cole, Cooper, Crawford, Dade, Dallas, Daviess, Dekalb, Dent, Douglas, Dunklin, Franklin, Gasconade, Gentry, Greene, Grundy, Harrison, Henry, Hickory, Holt, Howard, Howell, Iron, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Laclede, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Livingston, Macon, Madison, Maries, Marion, Mcdonald, Mercer, Miller, Mississippi, Moniteau, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, New Madrid, Newton, Nodaway, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Perry, Pettis, Phelps, Pike, Platte, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, Ray, Reynolds, Ripley, Saline, Schuyler, Scotland, Scott, Shannon, Shelby, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Francois, St. Louis, St. Louis (County), Ste. Genevieve, Stoddard, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Texas, Vernon, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Worth and Wright in Missouri. Claiborne, Clay, De Soto, Hancock, Lafayette, Lee, Monroe, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Tate, Tunica, Union, Warren, Washington, Webster and Yalobusha in Mississippi. Nance and Sarpy in Nebraska. Adams, Athens, Belmont, Brown, Butler, Carroll, Clermont, Columbiana, Gallia, Guernsey, Hamilton, Harrison, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mahoning, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Pike, Scioto, Vinton, Warren and Washington in Ohio. Adair, Alfalfa, Atoka, Beaver, Beckham, Blaine, Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw, Cimarron, Cleveland, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Creek, Custer, Delaware, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Grant, Greer, Harmon, Harper, Haskell, Hughes, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnston, Kay, Kingfisher, Kiowa, Latimer, Le Flore, Lincoln, Logan, Love, Major, Marshall, Mayes, Mcclain, Mccurtain, Mcintosh, Murray, Muskogee, Noble, Nowata, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Roger Mills, Rogers, Seminole, Sequoyah, Stephens, Texas, Tulsa, Wagoner, Washington, Washita, Woods and Woodward in Oklahoma. Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland in Pennsylvania. Anderson, Bowie, Cass, Dewitt, Gray, Hansford, Harrison, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Marion, Ochiltree, Panola, Roberts, Shelby, Sherman and Wheeler in Texas. Tazewell in Virginia. Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Jefferson, Lafayette, Rock and Walworth in Wisconsin.
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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