Museum Returns Ancient Remains: Tribes Get Their Ancestors Back
Published Date: 9/23/2026
Notice
Summary
The University of Tennessee and the Frank H. McClung Museum have finished listing Native American human remains and artifacts found in Virginia. They’ve confirmed these items belong to specific tribes and will start returning them after October 23, 2026. This means important cultural treasures will be respectfully sent back to their rightful communities soon.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Return of 7 Native Individuals and 29 Objects
The University of Tennessee has determined that human remains representing at least seven Native American individuals and 29 associated funerary objects from sites in Smyth and Wise Counties, Virginia, are culturally affiliated with specific tribes. These remains and objects are eligible for repatriation to the affiliated tribes (Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Monacan Indian Nation; United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma) and may be returned on or after October 23, 2026.
Who Can Request Repatriation and How
Written requests for repatriation may be submitted to Dr. Ellen Lofaro, University of Tennessee, Office of Repatriation (Knoxville, TN 37996; email: the address listed in the notice) by any one or more of the named tribes or by any lineal descendant or tribe that shows by a preponderance of the evidence that they are culturally affiliated. UTK may repatriate to a requestor on or after October 23, 2026, will decide among competing requests, and treats joint repatriation requests as a single request.
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