Alabama University to Repatriate Remains from Ancient Village Site
Published Date: 11/18/2025
Notice
Summary
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has finished checking and listing Native American human remains and related items found at an old village site in Alabama. These remains and objects will be returned to the right Native tribes starting December 18, 2025. This important step helps honor Native American heritage and follows federal law, with no costs or deadlines for the public to worry about.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Remains and Objects Set for Repatriation
The University of Alabama at Birmingham completed an inventory showing at least three Native American individuals and 155 associated funerary objects from site 1Sc50 in St. Clair County, Alabama. These remains and objects may be returned to affiliated groups on or after December 18, 2025.
Who Can Request Repatriation
The notice names the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas; Poarch Band of Creek Indians; Seminole Tribe of Florida; Shawnee Tribe; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; and Thlopthlocco Tribal Town as affiliated and allows any one or more of those tribes to request repatriation. It also allows any lineal descendant or other Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization to request repatriation if they show by a preponderance of the evidence that they are lineal descendants or culturally affiliated; joint requests are treated as a single request and repatriation may occur on or after December 18, 2025.
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Previous: 2025-20103, Notice of Inventory Completion: The University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology, Knoxville, TN
The University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Department has finished listing Native American human remains and related items from old archaeological digs. These remains and objects are linked to specific tribes and can be returned starting December 18, 2025. This means tribes can soon ask to have their ancestors and belongings respectfully sent back, with no cost mentioned.
Next: 2025-20105, Notice of Inventory Completion: The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has finished checking and listing Native American human remains and artifacts found at an old site in Alabama. These items are linked to specific Native tribes, and they can be returned to those tribes starting December 18, 2025. If you want to request the return, you need to contact the university’s anthropology department by then.