In January ProPublica published The Repatriation Project, a series of articles and resources that investigate the failure of U.S. federally funded museums and universities to return Native American, Native Hawaiian and Native Alaskan human remains and cultural artifacts to tribes under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a federal law passed in.
For decades, Dickson Mounds Museum in Illinois displayed the open graves of more than 200 Indigenous people. Thirty years after a federal law required museums to begin returning remains, the statewide museum system still holds thousands.
For decades, Dickson Mounds Museum in Illinois displayed the open graves of more than 200 Indigenous people. Thirty years after a federal law required museums to begin returning remains, the statewide museum system still holds thousands.
Generations of visitors learned about the history of Native Americans in Illinois through the eyes of amateur archaeologist Don Dickson. Though the exhibit he built closed in 1992, the Dickson Mounds Museum is still grappling with his legacy.