MSU Returns Island Pottery Shards to Tribes
Published Date: 3/17/2025
Notice
Summary
Michigan State University plans to return 40 Native American cultural items found on Mackinac Island back to the tribes they belong to. These items, like pottery shards and animal bones, were dug up in 1969 and will be repatriated starting April 16, 2025. This respectful move honors Native American traditions and helps heal history without any cost to the public.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
40 Native American items to be returned
If you are a member or representative of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan State University has determined that 40 unassociated funerary cultural items are culturally affiliated with your Tribe and intends to repatriate them. The 40 items include ceramic rim and neck sherds, animal bone, flakes, a turtle shell bowl, a pipe stem, nails, metal artifacts, and other objects collected from a burial on Mackinac Island in 1969. Repatriation may occur on or after April 16, 2025.
How others can request repatriation
Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization (not identified in the notice) may send a written request for repatriation if they show by a preponderance of the evidence that they are culturally affiliated. If competing requests are received, Michigan State University must determine the most appropriate requestor before repatriation, and joint repatriation requests are treated as a single request. Repatriation to a requestor may occur on or after April 16, 2025.
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