Harvard repatriates Native kids' hair from old Indian schools
Published Date: 3/18/2025
Notice
Summary
Harvard’s Peabody Museum has finished checking its collection and found hair samples from Native American students taken long ago at two Indian schools in South Dakota and Oregon. These remains are linked to specific tribes, and starting April 17, 2025, they can be returned to their rightful communities. This is a big step in respecting Native heritage and making things right.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Museum confirms tribal affiliation
The Peabody Museum found hair clippings from five Native American students and determined they have a cultural affiliation with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The clippings were collected at the Flandreau Indian School (2 individuals) and the Chemawa (Salem) Indian School (3 individuals), taken between 1930 and 1933 and donated to the museum in 1935.
Repatriation available starting April 17, 2025
You (as a member of the named Tribes or a lineal descendant) may request repatriation of the five human remains starting April 17, 2025. Requests may be submitted by the identified Tribes, by lineal descendants, or by other Tribes/organizations that show a preponderance of evidence of cultural affiliation; the Peabody Museum will decide among competing requests and treats joint repatriation requests as a single request.
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Previous: 2025-04357, Notice of Inventory Completion: The Alfred W. Bowers Laboratory of Anthropology, The University of Idaho, Moscow, ID
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Harvard's Peabody Museum has finished checking some Native American hair samples collected long ago from the Pawnee Reservation in Oklahoma. They confirmed these remains belong to Native American individuals and are ready to return them to the right tribes starting April 17, 2025. This means the museum is doing its part to respect Native heritage and follow important laws about returning ancestral remains.