New federal rules would hit museums 'on the head,' speed up return of lost or stolen Native remains
The remains of about 350 Native people, many who were dug up from their graves in New England, are still on museum shelves, according to a governme...
The remains of about 350 Native people, many who were dug up from their graves in New England, are still on museum shelves, according to a government database . That's despite a more than 30-year-old federal law that was designed to return them to their communities. Proposed changes to regulations would require museums to speed up the process. In the late 1800s and in the 1900s, universities and museums sponsored archaeological digs where they excavated the remains of Native people. Amateur collectors would also dig up remains and sometimes donate them to a school, library or museum.