Utah Museum Identifies Remains for Tribal Return
Published Date: 6/4/2026
Notice
Summary
The Natural History Museum of Utah has finished checking its collection and found human remains and special objects linked to Native American tribes. Starting July 6, 2026, these remains and items can be returned to the tribes. This is part of a respectful effort to honor Native American heritage, with no costs or delays expected.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Repatriation Eligible Starting July 6, 2026
Human remains representing six Native American individuals and associated funerary objects may be returned to affiliated tribes or lineal descendants on or after July 6, 2026. The Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah completed the inventory under NAGPRA and identified a cultural affiliation with multiple tribes including the Hopi Tribe; Jicarilla Apache Nation; Navajo Nation; Southern Ute; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray; Ute Mountain Ute; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo; Zuni Tribe; and many Pueblo tribes of New Mexico.
Who May Request Repatriation
Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations named in the notice, or by any lineal descendant or tribe/organization not listed that shows by a preponderance of the evidence it is culturally affiliated. If competing requests are received, the Natural History Museum of Utah must decide the most appropriate requestor; joint requests are treated as a single request.
Inventory Details and Object Conditions
The notice lists three lots of associated funerary objects: about 38 ceramic vessels, more than 200 ceramic sherds, and one gourd bowl; one ceramic vessel and the gourd bowl could not currently be located and the museum continues to search. Records show some associated funerary objects were fumigated, but the fumigant is not recorded; human remains from one site were excavated in 1930 and transferred to the University of Utah in 1957, and one individual was presented to the University in 1908.
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