BLM Wyoming Plans Return of Ancient Tools to Tribes
Published Date: 4/16/2026
Notice
Summary
The Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming plans to return special funerary objects found at archaeological sites to Native American tribes or descendants by April 16, 2027. If no one claims them by then, these items will be considered unclaimed. This affects tribes connected to these Wyoming sites and involves items like tools and soil samples stored at the University of Wyoming.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
BLM to Repatriate Funerary Objects
The Bureau of Land Management (Wyoming) intends to give one lot of associated funerary objects from archaeological sites 48SU4479 and 48WA1957 to lineal descendants or the Indian Tribes listed in this notice. The notice names specific tribes (for example, Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation, Blackfeet Tribe, Eastern Shoshone, Northern Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Sioux, and others) as having priority for disposition.
Claim Deadline — Items Become Unclaimed
Written claims to receive the associated funerary objects must be received by April 16, 2027. If no claim is received by that date, the objects will be designated as unclaimed associated funerary objects.
Items Identified and Curated in Wyoming
The one lot includes soil samples, debitage/flakes, fauna, projectile points, flora, a biface, and a bone awl removed during excavations after November 16, 1990, and these items are currently curated at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Human remains associated with these sites were addressed previously (notice published June 11, 2025), and this notice covers additional associated funerary objects recently discovered.
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