WPR: Museum to repatriate ancestors to three Wisconsin tribes

Wednesday, August 3, 2011  

"The largest repatriation of Native American remains to date in Wisconsin is underway. The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) is working with three tribes to return several hundred individual human remains from its collection, back to the earth.

For more than a century, 261 remains associated with the Forest County Potawatomi, the Menominee Nation, and the Ho Chunk Nation have been kept within the collection of the Wisconsin Historical Museum, which is part of the state historical society. Museum director Jennifer Kolb says now thanks to an $88,000 federal grant, it’s time to return those remains to their rightful place.

“That represents about 40 percent of the human remains that are at the state historical society, basically remains that have come over about a 125-year period,” she says. "

Get the Story:
WHS, tribes, begin biggest repatriation of human remains yet (Wisconsin Public Radio 8/2)
AUDIO: WHS, tribes, initiate biggest effort to rebury Indian remains yet in state (Wisconsin Public Radio 8/2)