In the previous year, significant progress was made by museums, universities, and government agencies in repatriating the remains of Native American ancestors to tribal nations, after years of slow progression had garnered national attention. This progress was most notably evident at the U.S. Department of the Interior, the agency responsible for enforcing the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which mandates the return of items and remains taken from Indigenous gravesites to their respective tribes.
The Interior Department’s subagencies, including the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, collectively repatriated the remains of 1,366 Native American ancestors last year. This represented more than one-third of the total number of remains in possession at the start of the year. This achievement underscored the department’s leadership role under NAGPRA, as reflected in a recent internal memo. The Illinois State Museum also made significant progress, repatriating more than 1,320 remains from a single site.
The emphasis on repatriation has grown alongside recent reports by ProPublica regarding failures to comply with the law, with Interior officials highlighting the long-standing disconnect between ancestors and tribal communities in an October 2023 memo. An Interior spokesperson, when questioned by ProPublica, pointed to newly finalized regulations intended to accelerate the process of repatriation. The regulations require institutions to give greater weight to tribal narratives and set new compliance deadlines.
Overall, more than 10,300 Native American ancestors were returned to tribes last year across various institutions nationwide, marking 2024 as the third-largest year for repatriations under NAGPRA. ProPublica maintains a database that tracks the progress of these efforts, which was updated most recently to reflect data up to January 6, 2025.
Outside of the efforts by the Interior Department and Illinois State Museum, state universities also made considerable progress, such as California State University, Sacramento, which repatriated 873 Native American remains from its collection. This progress follows a record high in 2023 where 18,000 ancestors were returned.
Despite notable advancements, nearly 60% of ancestral remains reported under NAGPRA remain, leaving at least 90,000 to be returned to tribes. The Interior Department has recognized that many remains in its charge have been unaccounted for in federal inventories, with collections scattered across various university and museum repositories.
Staffers at the department emphasized the need for continued funding for these efforts, a challenge potentially exacerbated by an administration determined to reduce spending. One Interior Department employee reiterated their commitment to repatriate all ancestors within their control to the National NAGPRA Review Committee, a federal advisory board.
The Arizona State Museum in Tucson is among those that have been evaluating their collections to determine ownership by the federal government, an initial step in the often lengthy repatriation process.
In Illinois, the state museum has made significant strides under new state laws that afford tribes greater control over reburials and establish funds to support repatriation efforts. These efforts include covering the cost for tribal members to visit and consult on collections, and for reburials.
At the Ohio History Connection, which now holds the most unrepatriated human remains with over 7,900, some progress was made last year in making more remains available for repatriation. The institution, largely containing remains from burial mounds, plans to continue its efforts in consultation with tribes.
More state support for repatriation could be forthcoming in Arizona, where Governor Katie Hobbs has proposed a $7 million funding request to bolster repatriation activities at the Arizona State Museum. The museum, which is a repository for both state and federal government, has yet to return more than half of its reported collection under NAGPRA.
Museum officials have reported receiving human remains through various means, such as donations from private citizens or via mail, often without prior contact. These packages, which are received two to three times per year, highlight ongoing challenges in reaching complete compliance with repatriation laws.
