UT Austin Inventories Ancient Remains for Tribal Repatriation
Published Date: 8/31/2026
Notice
Summary
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL), and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) have completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and have determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Cultural Affiliation Found for 193 Remains
The University of Texas Austin (TARL) and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department determined that human remains representing 193 Native American individuals and 1,320 associated funerary objects are culturally affiliated with a set of named Tribes. The notice lists affiliated Tribes including the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas; Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas; Kiowa Tribe; Mescalero Apache Tribe; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, Oklahoma.
Repatriation Eligibility and Process Rules
Repatriation of these items may occur on or after September 30, 2026. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any one or more of the Tribes named in the notice, by any lineal descendant, or by an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not named that shows cultural affiliation; TARL will determine the most appropriate requestor if competing requests are received, and joint repatriation requests are treated as a single request.
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In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Ball State University intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of sacred objects or objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Next: 2026-17700, Notice of Intended Repatriation: California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, CA
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.