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Harvard completes repatriation of Native remains from eastern Massachusetts

Harvard University's Peabody Museum and Warren Anatomical Museum recently completed the legal process for repatriating the remains of 313 Native people from eastern Massachusetts to Wampanoag communities in Mashpee and Aquinnah.

Harvard and other institutions are working on returning the remains of Native individuals from western and central Massachusetts.

After the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation became federal law in 1990, many museums took the first steps to comply — including reporting the number of human remains in their collections and which state and county they came from.

Jim Peters, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe and the executive director of the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs, said he worked with Harvard for the past couple of years on this recent repatriation.

"I think they've done the best they can," Peters said about the Harvard museums. "It's been a mountainous job that they may not have paid attention to in the past eras... They have come a long way."

Peters said the next step is for the Wampanoag tribal communities to find final resting places to rebury the remains of those who died.

In an emailed statement Harvard University said it plans to start consultations on remains from other parts of the state.

"The Peabody Museum plans to reach out to invite consultation on the 25 ancestors from Central, Western and unknown locations in MA by the end of January. This includes the ancestors from Worcester, Hampshire and Franklin Counties and the ancestor from Franklin County from the Warren Anatomical Museum."

Some other museums with the remains of people from central and western Massachusetts have either begun or plan to begin the process of repatriation.

Berkshire Museum is in the midst of the repatriation process for the remains of two individuals from Hampden County.

The Worcester Historical Museum, which has the remains of two individuals, plans to seek funding to hire someone to guide them through the repatriation process.

"My biggest concern with the whole process is ensuring that everything is done correctly," said Shelley Cathcart, the museum's curator.

According to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation database, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City has the remains of five individuals from Franklin County and one from Hampden County.

In an emailed statement the museum said it has "not received any inquiries or claims for these six individuals."

The museum did not say whether it had invited native groups to consult, "but welcomes engagement with any interested native communities regarding these individuals." 

Nancy Eve Cohen is a former NEPM senior reporter whose investigative reporting has been recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Regional Award for Hard News, along with awards for features and spot news from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA), American Women in Radio & Television and the Society of Professional Journalists.

She has reported on repatriation to Native nations, criminal justice for survivors of child sexual abuse, linguistic and digital barriers to employment, fatal police shootings and efforts to address climate change and protect the environment. She has done extensive reporting on the EPA's Superfund cleanup of the Housatonic River.

Previously, she served as an editor at NPR in Washington D.C., as well as the managing editor of the Northeast Environmental Hub, a collaboration of public radio stations in New York and New England.

Before working in radio, she produced environmental public television documentaries. As part of a camera crew, she also recorded sound for network television news with assignments in Russia, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba and in Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia.
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