Birmingham Museum to Return Native Remains from Alabama
Published Date: 9/9/2026
Notice
Summary
The Birmingham Museum of Art has finished checking its collection and found Native American human remains and 12 related items that belong to certain tribes. These remains and objects, taken from Alabama before 1961, will be returned to the tribes starting October 9, 2026. If you want to request the return, contact the museum soon—this is a big step in respecting Native American heritage!
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Museum to Return Ancestor and 12 Objects
The Birmingham Museum of Art has identified human remains representing one Native American individual and 12 associated funerary objects (seven earthenware vessels, one gaming piece, and four pipes) taken from Coosa County, Alabama and donated to the museum in 1961. The museum may repatriate these remains and objects to affiliated Indian Tribes or requestors on or after October 9, 2026.
Museum’s Cultural-Affiliation Determination
The Birmingham Museum of Art determined the remains and associated funerary objects are culturally affiliated with the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama Coushatta Tribe of Texas; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Kialegee Tribal Town; Poarch Band of Creek Indians; Seminole Tribe of Florida; Shawnee Tribe; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and Thlopthlocco Tribal Town. That determination underlies the museum’s plans to offer repatriation on or after October 9, 2026.
Who Can Request Repatriation And How
Written requests for repatriation may be submitted to the Birmingham Museum of Art by any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations named in the notice, or by a lineal descendant or tribe/organization not named that proves cultural affiliation by a preponderance of the evidence. If competing requests arrive, the museum must decide which requestor is most appropriate; joint requests are treated as a single request. Repatriation may occur on or after October 9, 2026.
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