Kentucky Park Returns Ancient Native Remains to Tribes
Published Date: 4/2/2026
Notice
Summary
Big Bone Lick State Historic Site in Kentucky has finished checking and listing some ancient Native American human remains and burial items found there. Starting May 4, 2026, these remains and objects can be returned to the related Native American tribes. This process helps honor and respect Native cultures while keeping history safe.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Repatriation available beginning May 4, 2026
Repatriation of the human remains (a minimum of three individuals) and two associated funerary objects may occur on or after May 4, 2026. Written requests for repatriation must be sent to Jennifer Spence, Parks Curator, Kentucky State Parks, Mayo-Underwood Building, 5th Floor, 500 Mero Street, Frankfort, KY 40601, or by the email address provided in the notice.
Four tribes identified as affiliated
Big Bone Lick State Historic Site determined there is a cultural affiliation between the remains/objects and the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; and the Shawnee Tribe. Those named tribes are identified in the notice as affiliated parties.
Remains curated at University of Kentucky museum
The human remains (minimum of three individuals) and associated funerary objects are curated at the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Fayette County, and are in that institution’s custody pending repatriation.
Who may request and how conflicts are handled
Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any one or more of the tribes named in the notice, or by a lineal descendant or other Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization that shows by a preponderance of the evidence cultural affiliation. If competing requests are received, Big Bone Lick State Historic Site must determine the most appropriate requestor; joint repatriation requests count as a single request.
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