Michigan Uni Ships Back Ancient Bones: Tribal Repatriation Routine
Published Date: 9/23/2026
Notice
Summary
The University of Michigan has finished checking and identifying some ancient Native American remains and a special object found in Michigan. These remains and the object are linked to local Indian Tribes and will be returned to them starting October 23, 2026. If you want to request the return, you can contact the university soon—no money changes hands, just respect and care.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
University determined cultural affiliation
The University of Michigan found that one set of Ancestral human remains (one individual) and one associated funerary object (one lot of glass beads) are culturally affiliated with a set of Indian Tribes listed in this notice. The listed Tribes include: Bay Mills Indian Community; Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians; Hannahville Indian Community; Keweenaw Bay Indian Community; Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan; Little River Band of Ottawa Indians; Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians; Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians; Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan; and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The University states these items were removed in 1958 from the Harland site (Sanilac County, Michigan) and dated to A.D. 1610–1670.
Who may request repatriation and how
If you represent one of the Tribes named in this notice, you may submit a written request for repatriation to the University of Michigan’s NAGPRA Office. Written requests may be submitted by: (1) any one or more of the Indian Tribes listed in the notice and, if joined to a listed Tribe’s request, the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians or Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians as non-federally recognized groups; or (2) any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not listed that shows by a preponderance of the evidence it is culturally affiliated. Requests may be submitted for repatriation that may occur on or after October 23, 2026.
Competing requests and repatriation timing rules
If multiple requests for repatriation are received, the University of Michigan must determine the most appropriate requestor before repatriation. Joint repatriation requests are treated as a single request, and repatriation to the approved requestor may occur on or after October 23, 2026.
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