Beloit College Prepares to Repatriate Tribal Ancestral Items
Published Date: 11/18/2025
Notice
Summary
Beloit College’s Logan Museum has finished checking some old Native American items found in Illinois and confirmed they belong to certain tribes. Starting December 18, 2025, these items can be returned to the tribes who are connected to them. This is part of a respectful effort to give back important cultural objects without any cost involved.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Four Bone Awls Identified as Funerary Objects
The Logan Museum of Anthropology has identified four bone awls (LMA 858.1, 858.2, 858.4, 708.3) excavated from Montezuma Mound Group (11PK1245) in Pike County, Illinois, as associated funerary objects. The museum determined these objects have a cultural affiliation with a specific list of tribes named in the notice.
Repatriation Allowed Starting December 18, 2025
The notice states that repatriation of the four associated funerary objects may occur on or after December 18, 2025. Written requests for repatriation must be sent to Nicolette Meister at Beloit College, Logan Museum of Anthropology, 700 College Street, Beloit, WI 53511, or emailed to the address listed in the notice.
Who May Request Repatriation and Tie-Break Rules
Eligible requestors include any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations named in the notice, and any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not named who proves affiliation by a preponderance of the evidence. If competing requests are received, the Logan Museum must determine the most appropriate requestor; joint repatriation requests are treated as a single request.
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