Federal Land Repatriation Sends 121 Sacred and Ancient Items Home
Published Date: 6/16/2025
Notice
Summary
The Bureau of Land Management in Oregon plans to return 121 cultural items, including sacred objects and ancient tools, to Native American tribes starting July 16, 2025. These items were found on public lands and are currently held by the University of Nevada Reno. This repatriation honors Native American heritage and follows federal law, with no costs to tribes involved.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
121 Cultural Items Returned to Tribes
The Bureau of Land Management intends to return 121 cultural items (five stemmed point fragments plus 116 lots) to Native American tribes on or after July 16, 2025. The items include unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony (shell fragments, soil, faunal remains, and stone tools/tool fragments made of obsidian, basalt, and cryptocrystalline silicate) that were removed from archaeological sites on BLM lands in Lake County, OR and Harney County, OR; they are currently housed at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Tribal Affiliations Identified for Repatriation
BLM has determined the cultural items are affiliated with the Burns Paiute Tribe; Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California; and the Klamath Tribes, and intends to repatriate the items consistent with that affiliation on or after July 16, 2025.
How Tribes or Descendants Request Items
Lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations (including those not named in the notice) may submit written requests for repatriation showing affiliation by a preponderance of the evidence; requests must be sent to the Lakeview District Manager at the address provided and repatriation may occur on or after July 16, 2025. If competing requests are received, BLM will determine the most appropriate requestor; joint requests are treated as a single request.
Repatriation Will Not Cost Tribes
The notice states the repatriation is carried out under federal law and, as summarized, will involve no costs to the tribes for the return of the cultural items.
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Previous: 2025-11014, Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon/Washington State Office, Lakeview District Office, Lakeview, OR
The Bureau of Land Management’s Lakeview District Office in Oregon has finished checking and identifying human remains and artifacts found on their land. They’ve confirmed these remains belong to Native American tribes and are ready to return them starting July 16, 2025. This means Native communities can reclaim their ancestors’ remains and belongings, with no costs or delays expected.
Next: 2025-11016, Notice of Inventory Completion: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College has finished checking its collection and found Native American human remains and related items that belong to certain tribes. Starting July 16, 2025, these remains and objects can be returned to the tribes. This is a respectful step to honor Native American heritage and follows important laws protecting their ancestors.