Interior Dept. Returns Utah Remains to Connected Tribes
Published Date: 4/2/2025
Notice
Summary
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Reclamation have finished checking human remains and funerary items from Utah’s Glen Canyon area. They found these items are connected to certain Native American tribes and Native Hawaiian groups. This means the items will be officially returned to those communities, following important laws that protect Native heritage.
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Repatriation of Glen Canyon Remains
Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Reclamation determined that human remains and associated funerary objects from the Glen Canyon area of San Juan County, Utah, are culturally affiliated with certain Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. The items, held by the Utah Museum of Natural History (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah) and the Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff, Arizona), will be returned to those communities.
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