Choctaw Nation to rebury 124 ancestral remains in Mississippi

Thursday, February 24, 2011  

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma signed an agreement to repatriate 124 ancestors that were removed from their resting place in Mississippi.

The remains were uncovered along the Natchez Trace Parkway in the 1950s and 1960s. They will finally be reburied in Mississippi.

"Our graves to be sacred--our ancestors burial spots to be sacred and part of that is to protect them and because native people were taken off of our land, we can't do that always," tribal archaeologist Ian Thompson said at a ceremony yesterday, KTEN-TV reported.

The tribe reclaimed its ancestors through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Get the Story:
After Decades, Choctaw Reclaim Ancestor Remains (KTEN 2/23)