The Cranbrook Institute of Science in Michigan is preparing to repatriate 59 ancestors to a group of tribes.

The 13 tribes requested the ancestors in 2008. The museum's board of directors voted to repatriate the remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

"It is the right thing to do," Michael Stafford, the Institute's director, told The Detroit Free Press. "We don't view these remains as data. We see them as people, with spirits and souls."

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians is coordinating the process. The band will work with the other tribes on the reburial.

"We see this as a human rights issue," Eric Hemenway, a repatriation expert for the tribe, told the paper.

Get the Story:
Tribes to finally lay ancestors to rest (The Detroit Free Press 7/21)