- Details
- By Jenna Kunze
Today, the University of North Dakota (UND) announced it discovered “dozens” of Native American human remains and “several hundred objects taken from Indigenous lands and communities” that the school is working with tribal nations and federal officials to catalog and return.
In March of this year, faculty and staff found the human remains and cultural objects boxed in the basement of a derelict anthropology building on campus while searching for a missing sacred item on campus.
“At that moment, my heart sunk into my stomach,” said UND Professor Laine Lyons (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians), a member of the University’s recently formed NAGPRA compliance committee, on the moment the first ancestor was identified on campus on March 3. “It was at that moment that I knew we were at another institution that didn't do the right thing.”
Lyons said she and other staff immediately informed the university of its findings.
“It begs the questions: How did this happen? Who did this? Why did they do this? All questions we are seeking to know and looking to answer,” she said.
Although UND is required by a 32-year-old law to catalog and report to a federal committee any Native American human remains or sacred objects it possesses, the school never did.
UND President Andrew Armacost called the noncompliance “inexplicable” and pledged his administration’s “full support and commitment to the tribal nations impacted by this mistake.”
Armacost said the university believes that some of the ancestors and items were taken directly from sacred burial mounds beginning in the 1940s and through the 1980s.
“Our primary goal now is to work diligently until all ancestors and sacred objects are returned home, regardless of how long it takes,” Armacost said in a statement. “Upon learning of this discovery, we reached out immediately to representatives from a half-dozen tribal nations. That number has now grown to thirteen and will continue to expand.”
He said the consultation process has been underway for four months, and the university waited to announce the news until initial communications with tribal nations were complete, at the request of those tribes. “We didn’t want a lot of media until we came up with a solid plan,” said Dianne Desrosiers, the tribal historic preservation officer for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate—one of the five North Dakota tribes involved in consultation with the university.
In the past five months, Desrosiers said the university worked with the tribes to move the remains and sacred objects to a temperature-controlled, secure location where it could conduct the necessary spiritual practices.
“We were able to get [the remains] and move them to a secure area without a whole lot of fanfare,” Desrosiers said.
The university has hired a Native American Graves Repatriation and Protection Act (NAGPRA) consultant, Jim Jones (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), to begin the potentially yearslong process of cataloging and researching tribal affiliations for each ancestor and object. It also launched a repatriation webpage to explain the university’s repatriation process to date and provided on-campus support for students and staff impacted by the news.
Additionally, National NAGPRA Program manager Melanie O’Brien told Native News Online that the university reached out to her office for technical assistance. She added that penalties for institutions that fall out of NAGPRA compliance are only assessed if and when an allegation is made against an institution for failure to comply.
Desrosiers made it clear that, although she was “disturbed” by the university’s findings, it doesn’t reflect the current administration’s fault.
“I think they were taken aback by what they actually had there,” she said. “The tribes (all) had the very same question: how could this happen? And the president, he couldn’t answer it. But that was beside the point because then tribes said: ‘Then how can we remedy this? What are you going to do to ensure that we take care of them? And they were open to whatever the tribes want. And we want to do it respectfully.”
More Stories Like This
50 Years of Self-Determination: How a Landmark Act Empowered Tribal Sovereignty and Transformed Federal-Tribal RelationsMuscogee Nation and City of Tulsa Reach Agreement on Criminal Jurisdiction and Public Safety Collaboration
Panel on Ethical Tribal Engagement at OU Highlights Healing, Research and Sovereignty
Groundbreaking Held for Western Navajo Pipeline Phase I – LeChee Water System Improvement Project
Navajo Citizens Voice Mixed Reactions to Trump’s Coal Executive Order at Public Hearing
Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions
At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.
The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.
Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.
This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.
We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.
Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.
Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.
Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher
