Florida Museum to Return Ancestral Remains from Mission Site
Published Date: 3/17/2025
Notice
Summary
The University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History has finished checking its collection and found two Native American ancestors’ bones from a historic mission site in Florida. These remains are linked to local tribes, and they can be returned to them starting April 16, 2025. This means the museum is ready to give back these important pieces of history to the right communities, respecting their heritage and culture.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Two Native American Remains Identified for Return
The University of Florida identified human remains representing at least two Native American individuals (a maxilla and a patella, MNI=2) from the San Juan del Puerto Mission site (8DU53), a late 16th–early 17th century Spanish-Timucuan (Mocama province) mission in Duval County, Florida. The museum determined these remains are culturally affiliated with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation and may be repatriated on or after April 16, 2025.
Who May Request Repatriation and Process
Written requests for repatriation may be submitted to the FLMNH NAGPRA Coordinator and may be made by any one or more of the Indian Tribes named in the notice, or by a lineal descendant or tribe not named who shows by a preponderance of the evidence a cultural affiliation. If competing requests are received, the FLMNH must determine the most appropriate requestor; repatriation may occur on or after April 16, 2025.
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