Returning Native remains and artifacts to their rightful owners is a process that takes a lot of time and money, tribes and museums have discovered.

As one example, he Smithsonian Institution has returned fewer than 5,000 remains of its original collection of 18,000. The museum spends $1 million a year and has a team of 15 anthropologists and researchers assigned to handle repatriation.

Some remains will never be returned due to lack of documentation. Institutions that do not receive federal funds aren't required to follow repatriation law either.

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Returning bones is a daunting task (The Baltimore Sun 1/12)