Tulsa Museum Updates Native Item List: Repatriation Prep Underway
Published Date: 12/16/2025
Notice
Summary
The Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa has finished checking its collection and found human remains and artifacts linked to Native American tribes. Starting January 15, 2026, these items can be returned to the tribes that they belong to. This means the museum is taking important steps to respect Native American heritage and follow the law.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
36 Native Remains Eligible for Return
The Gilcrease Museum has identified human remains for at least 36 Native American individuals and 1,036 associated funerary objects that are eligible for repatriation. These items may be returned to affiliated tribes or claimants on or after January 15, 2026.
Tribes Identified as Culturally Affiliated
The museum determined a reasonable connection between the remains/objects and specific Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations named in the notice (for example, Citizen Potawatomi Nation; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Quapaw Nation; Sac & Fox Nation; Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, among others). Those named groups are identified as culturally affiliated for repatriation purposes.
Who May Request Repatriation and Process
Repatriation requests may be submitted by any one or more of the tribes/organizations named in the notice, or by a lineal descendant or other tribe/organization who shows by a preponderance of the evidence that they are culturally affiliated. If competing requests are received, the Gilcrease Museum must decide the most appropriate requestor before repatriation; joint requests are treated as a single request.
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