Harvard's Peabody to repatriate ancient Native American hair locks
Published Date: 4/11/2025
Notice
Summary
Harvard's Peabody Museum has finished checking its collection of Native American hair samples and found they belong to specific tribes, including the Oglala and Sioux. Starting May 12, 2025, these remains can be returned to the tribes connected to them. This is part of a respectful effort to give back important cultural items without any cost or delay.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Museum Identifies Cultural Affiliation
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (PMAE) completed an inventory and determined there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains described in this notice and Indian Tribes, including a reasonable connection to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The PMAE says the human remains represent the physical remains of 23 Native American individuals.
Locations and Details of Remains Listed
The notice lists human remains from specific places and collectors: at minimum 2 individuals from Rosebud Indian Reservation, SD (hair clippings of people aged 73 and 29) collected by William O. Roberts; 13 individuals from Flandreau Indian School, SD (ages 13–19) collected by George E. Peters; 3 from Pierre Indian School, SD (ages 16 and 19) collected by C.B. Dickinson; 2 from Genoa Indian School, NB (ages 17–18) collected by S.B. Davis; 1 from Rosebud Reservation (age 41) collected by Roberts; 1 from Carson Indian School, NV (age 17) collected by Frederic Snyder; and 1 from Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, OK (age 16) collected by Lawrence E. Correll. All were donated to PMAE in 1935 and no associated funerary objects are present.
Who Can Request Repatriation and When
Repatriation may occur on or after May 12, 2025. Written requests may be made by any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations identified in the notice, or by a lineal descendant or other tribe/organization that proves by a preponderance of the evidence that they are a lineal descendant or culturally affiliated.
Competing and Joint Repatriation Requests Rules
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the PMAE must decide which requestor is most appropriate before repatriation. Requests made jointly by multiple requestors are treated as a single request and not competing requests.
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