North Dakota legislators approve funding for historical society's compliance with grave protection laws

The skulls of 19 Black Americans, sent to Germany for racist research in 1872, returned to New Orlea...

The board voted to accept exceptions for three data sessions (DS 215, 216 and 217) from BIA-curated collections and to send them to the state review board for further action, noting the collections predate NAGPRA and involve funerary objects and human remains.

The FBI Los Angeles told reporters that 38 ancient Egyptian artifacts believed to have been taken to the United States illegally were repatriated to the consul general of Egypt so they could be returned to the Egyptian people.

Gregory Sarris told senators the university has hired or interviewed candidates for a systemwide NAGPRA coordinator and acknowledged campuses remain out of compliance ahead of a federal audit scheduled for 01/01/2028.

The discussion connected Hartley's poems to recent repatriation and public history: the forum referenced the 2021 return of Papskine Island, called out omissions on trail signage such as Monument Mountain, and included audience questions about how museums should present distant pasts and artifact provenance.

Legislators at the hearing pressed UC and the state auditor about whether the legislature can use appropriations and other levers to require progress, and asked for clearer, reportable milestones and enforceable consequences if campuses do not spend allocated NAGPRA funds.

University of California officials acknowledged past failures, apologized and described policy changes, new staff positions, improved dashboards and a $3,000,000 fund to support tribes' costs for consultation, repatriation and reburial.

The California State Auditor told a joint legislative hearing the University of California still lacks systemwide accountability and clear timelines to return Native American ancestors and cultural items, and projected multi‑decade completion dates if current rates continue.

Multiple tribal leaders told lawmakers that repatriation remains slow, threatened by inconsistent campus practices and a 2024 federal regulation that limits avenues for unrecognized California tribes; they urged legislative and federal fixes, including a California-specific carve‑out to restore direct pathways.

The vice chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs said major universities and museums are still holding human remains and cultural objects taken from Native communities, including Native Hawaiians, and that the committee has sent bipartisan letters urging compliance with federal law. Some institutions have begun repatriation work; others have been slow and were the subject of a follow-up letter.

At a Library of Congress event, Jeffrey A. Keith and Kevin Kehrberg presented archival research showing the song known as "Swannanoa Tunnel" (also "Asheville Junction") likely originated as a railroad work song connected to incarcerated laborers who built the Swannanoa Tunnel in 1879, and discussed record repatriation and community engagement.

A Tasmanian museum apologized for keeping 177 human remains without consent. Seven NATO intelligence agencies continue doing exactly this. One is treated as a scandal. The other is classified.

Smithsonian To Return Indian Bronzes Of Antiquity Taken From Tamil Nadu.

Ancient Buddhist Relics Return to India After 127 Years Abroad.

Published: October 14, 2025, 22:10 EDT Archaeologists Identify 1,900-Year-Old Roman Artifact in Louisiana Home A New Orleans family made a

Committee will monitor identification and facilitate the return of Native American remains.