The Con Foster Museum Collection is being stored in the basement of the Carnegie Building in Traverse City, Michigan. Photo by takomabibelot / Flickr

A city in Michigan is keeping a huge collection of Indian artifacts that may or may not include ancestral remains in a basement.

The Con Foster Museum Collection reportedly includes 7,000 Indian items. But apparently no one from Traverse City has ever properly cataloged them, The Traverse City Ticker reported.

It's believed the collection included ancestral remains that were repatriated to tribes. An expert hired by the city said the process appears to have occurred without following the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

The collection is named for Con Foster, the city's commissioner in the 1930s. He traveled the Midwest "buying Native American and pioneer artifacts," according to the History Center of Traverse City.

The items are being kept in the basement of the Carnegie Building, The Traverse City Record-Eagle reported.

Get the Story:
What's Next For The Con Foster Collection? (The Traverse Ticker 3/23)
Carnegie leases likely resolved (The Traverse City Record-Eagle 2/28)