Tennessee Unearths Links to Native Ancestors in State Inventory
Published Date: 8/14/2025
Notice
Summary
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation just finished checking a collection of Native American human remains and burial items from several Tennessee counties. They found these remains are connected to specific Native American tribes. This means the tribes can now work on reclaiming their ancestors’ items, following important laws that protect Native heritage.
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
NAGPRA inventory completed in Tennessee
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology completed an inventory of Native American human remains and associated funerary objects from Cumberland, Dekalb, Fentress, Jackson, Morgan, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Smith, White, and Wilson Counties, Tennessee. The inventory found a cultural affiliation between those remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), allowing those tribes and organizations to pursue repatriation of ancestors and funerary items under that law.
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