An Investigation into Repatriation for Indigenous People of Texas

Repatriation is a growing issue for libraries, museums, and archives that will not go away anytime soon. In the United States, the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in 1990 has set a precedent for institutions that receive federal funding to comply with an inventory of their human remains and items of cultural significance through a process that deaccessions the objects back to their communities of origin. In Texas, there are two cases in which Native American tribes are requesting remains of their ancestors for repatriation. This report discusses how the Indigenous people in Texas are represented through the Bullock Texas State History Museum, the history of NAGPRA, as well as an outline of both repatriation cases through qualitative analysis of news reports that cover the tribes claims.