Illinois State Museum to Repatriate Arikara Remains
Published Date: 3/17/2025
Notice
Summary
The Illinois State Museum has finished checking its collection and found human remains linked to Native American tribes, specifically the Arikara from South Dakota. These remains, collected long ago, will be returned to the tribes starting April 16, 2025. This means the museum is helping honor Native American heritage by giving back important ancestral items.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Return of 4 Native American Remains and 244 Objects
The Illinois State Museum has identified human remains representing four individuals and 244 associated funerary objects that are culturally affiliated with the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation (Arikara, and ancestors of Mandan and possibly Hidatsa). The museum will make these remains and objects available for repatriation starting April 16, 2025; the remains were collected from sites dated as early as A.D. 950–1850 and were donated to the museum in 2014.
Who May Request Repatriation and How
Repatriation requests may be submitted by any of the Indian Tribes identified in the notice, or by a lineal descendant or tribe not identified who shows, by a preponderance of the evidence, cultural affiliation; repatriation may occur on or after April 16, 2025. If competing requests are received, the Illinois State Museum must determine the most appropriate requestor before transfer; joint requests count as a single request.
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Previous / Next Documents
Previous: 2025-04191, Notice of Intended Repatriation: Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL
The Illinois State Museum plans to return 19 special cultural items linked to the Arikara tribe, taken from sites in North Dakota long ago. This repatriation will start on or after April 16, 2025, giving Native American groups a chance to reclaim their heritage. No money changes hands, but this is a big step in respecting and honoring Native American history.
Next: 2025-04193, Notice of Inventory Completion: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH
The Ohio History Connection has finished checking and listing Native American human remains and artifacts from Wood County, Ohio. They found remains from over 1,399 people and thousands of related items, linked to local tribes. Starting April 16, 2025, these remains and objects can be returned to the tribes, honoring their heritage with no cost involved.