Article Author:
Associated Press
Kim Chandler
MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) — The remains of Native Americans who once lived in Alabama were unearthed by amateur archaeologists a century ago. rice field. —and given to the state along with jewels, urns, and other objects buried with them.
The Alabama State Archives and History Department announced this week that it will begin the process of returning cremated remains and funerary items held in its collection to tribes as required by federal law. The department also announced that it had removed funerary items from an exhibit where the artifacts had been on display for years to be seen by school groups and other visitors.
} "The origin of these materials and the manner in which they came into our possession are highly questionable from today's point of view. What types of materials are appropriate for display in museum exhibitions and which are not? We were very respectful and agreed with the Native perspective on the material," said Steve Murray, director of the Alabama State Archives and History Department on Thursday. "It was the personal property of the person buried, whose burial was later sabotaged without permission," Murray said.
The Federal Native Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 provides federally funded institutions, such as universities, with the right to direct descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations to protect Native Americans. We are obliged to return the remains and cultural properties. However, the return was slow and slow.
Last month, data maintained by the Associated Press reported that 870,000 Native American artefacts (including about 110,000 human remains) are still being sold to universities, museums nationwide. , reported to be owned by other agencies. By the National Park Service.
The first materials to be returned from the Alabama archives are his 37 sets of human remains and 349 human remains exhumed from his two burial sites in Montgomery and Lowndes counties in the early 1900s. Related funerary items. Murray said the tombs belonged to people who lived in Alabama in the 18th century, but some date back to the 1600s.
The state archives have a total of 114 sets of remains from 22 locations across the state, along with artifacts buried with those people, Murray said.
The University of Alabama Museum houses the largest collection of Native American remains and artefacts in Alabama.
