Penn Museum Returns 1800s Native Adolescent Skull
Published Date: 3/19/2025
Notice
Summary
The University of Pennsylvania Museum has finished checking its collection and found human remains linked to Native American tribes, especially the Penobscot. These remains, an adolescent’s skull found before 1840, can be returned to the tribes starting April 18, 2025. This means the museum is doing its part to respect Native heritage and follow important laws.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Remains eligible for repatriation April 18, 2025
If you are a member of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi'kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe (Indian Township and Pleasant Point), or Penobscot Nation, the Penn Museum has identified an adolescent cranium as culturally affiliated with those Tribes and supports returning it. Repatriation may occur on or after April 18, 2025.
Who may request repatriation and how
The museum allows written repatriation requests from any one or more of the Tribes named in this notice, or from a lineal descendant or other Tribe/organization that shows cultural affiliation by a preponderance of the evidence. If competing requests arrive, the Penn Museum must decide the most appropriate requestor; joint repatriation requests count as a single request.
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