Harvard hands back Hawaiian ancestors from dusty library shelves
Published Date: 12/18/2025
Notice
Summary
Harvard’s Center for the History of Medicine has finished checking its collection and found human remains linked to Native Hawaiian groups. Starting January 20, 2026, these remains can be returned to the right communities. This update affects Native Hawaiian organizations and shows Harvard’s commitment to respecting cultural heritage.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Identified Native Hawaiian groups can request remains
If you are the Hui Iwi Kuamo'o or the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, you may request repatriation of human remains that Harvard identified as culturally affiliated with Native Hawaiian organizations. The remains represent at least one individual, have no associated funerary objects, and repatriation may occur on or after January 20, 2026. Send written requests to Jane Pickering, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, or email [email protected].
Other descendants may request repatriation with evidence
Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not named in the notice may request repatriation if they show by a preponderance of the evidence that they are a lineal descendant or culturally affiliated. If competing requests are received, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (PMAE) must determine the most appropriate requestor; joint repatriation requests are treated as a single request. Repatriation may occur on or after January 20, 2026.
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