Mississippi Repatriates Native American Remains and Artifacts

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI—The Associated Press reports that the Mississippi Department of Archives and History will hand over more than 400 sets of human remains and 83 artifacts in its collections to The Chickasaw Nation under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The remains have been dated to between 750 and 1,800 years old. “These are our grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles and cousins from long ago,” said Amber Hood, director of historic preservation and repatriation for The Chickasaw Nation. The remains and artifacts will be transported and reburied in decomposable muslin bags sewn by volunteers, according to archaeologist Meg Cook. More than 1,000 sets of human remains in Mississippi have yet to be identified and repatriated. Many of the remains held in Mississippi were unearthed during construction projects. For more on Native American communities in the southeastern United States, go to "Letter from Florida: People of the White Earth."