Dartmouth College says it has identified the partial skeletal remains of 15 Native Americans housed in its anthropology department. Now it’s working to repatriate the remains to the affiliated tribes. It’s sparking a larger conversation between the college and Native American students and alumni about why the remains were mislabeled for so long, how the college acquired them and who is to blame for the oversight. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires federally funded institutions including universities to return remains and cultural items to the tribes they were taken from.
Tribal leaders from across Indian Country are mourning the passing of former National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Joe Garcia, who served three terms as governor of the Ohkay Owingeh, a federally recognized pueblo in New Mexico. Garcia died on Thursday and a traditional funeral has already been held. Garcia was 70. Garcia served for two terms as president of NCAI, the largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. He was elected president of NCAI in 2005 and reelected in 2007. At the time of his death, Garcia served as the Southwest region vice president of NCAI.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.
