Tennessee Treasures Returned: University Repatriates Sacred Native Items
Published Date: 1/27/2026
Notice
Summary
The University of Tennessee has finished checking and listing special objects found with Native American ancestors from an old site in Tennessee. These objects are linked to certain tribes, and starting February 26, 2026, they can be returned to those tribes. This is a respectful step to honor Native American history and culture, with no costs or risks involved.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Objects eligible for repatriation to named Tribes
The University of Tennessee completed an inventory of five lots of associated funerary objects from the Wright's Bend site (40RE69) in Roane County, Tennessee and determined they are culturally affiliated with the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas; Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. These objects may be returned to those tribes on or after February 26, 2026.
Who may request repatriation and how
Written repatriation requests may be submitted by any one or more of the Indian Tribes named in this notice, or by any lineal descendant or Indian Tribe not named who shows by a preponderance of the evidence that it is culturally affiliated. Requests must be sent to Dr. Ellen Lofaro, University of Tennessee, Office of Repatriation, 5723 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN 37996 (email [email protected]); if competing requests are received, UTK must determine the most appropriate requestor before repatriation.
No known hazardous treatments on objects
UTK reports that, to its knowledge, no potentially hazardous substances were used to treat any of the associated funerary objects recovered in June 2003 from the Wright's Bend site. That means tribes or others taking custody will not face known chemical contamination risks from prior conservation treatments.
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