New Mexico Remains to Be Returned to Tribes
Published Date: 7/2/2026
Notice
Summary
The Defense Health Agency’s National Museum of Health and Medicine has finished checking its collection and found two Native American human remains from New Mexico. These remains can be returned to the affiliated tribes starting August 3, 2026. If you’re part of a tribe or Native Hawaiian group, you can request repatriation by contacting the museum—no money changes hands, just respect and care for history.
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 5 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Museum identified two Native American remains
The National Museum of Health and Medicine identified human remains representing at least two Native American individuals removed from Indian Ruins No. 6 at the Upper San Francisco River, Catron County, New Mexico, in June 1885. The remains include one adult partial skeleton and one adult right femur; no associated funerary objects are present.
Cultural affiliation identified with two tribes
The museum determined a cultural affiliation between the human remains and the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico, and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. That affiliation is the basis for repatriation consultation and claims by those tribes.
Repatriation available starting August 3, 2026
Repatriation of the human remains described in this notice may occur on or after August 3, 2026. Tribes or eligible requestors can initiate repatriation actions beginning on that date.
Who may request repatriation
Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations identified in the notice, or by a lineal descendant or other tribe/organization that shows by a preponderance of the evidence it is culturally affiliated. Requests must be sent to the museum's authorized representative.
Competing and joint repatriation requests
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the National Museum of Health and Medicine must determine the most appropriate requestor before repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation are treated as a single request and are not considered competing requests.
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