Indigenous communities reclaim 41 remains, hundreds of artifacts from WWU

Western Washington University has repatriated 41 Indigenous remains and 238 cultural items to their ancestral communities, about two years after heightened attention to the issue. 

Repatriation does not mean those items have been physically returned to the Indigenous communities they belong to, explained Alyson Rollins of Western. Rather it means, legally, those items are “no longer in our control, but they’re still in our care.” Tribes can pick up the remains and artifacts at any time.

A database released by ProPublica in January 2023 prompted a nationwide look into the more than 600 institutions that possess remains, including Western. Institutions that receive federal funding have been required since 1990 to return “cultural items” and remains to American Indian Tribes, Alaska Native villages and Native Hawaiian organizations, after the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).