KU Indigenous remains inventory rises to 470 in latest official count

I wrote this article for the University Daily Kansan in Nov., 2023. Through my reporting, I was able to break the news that the University of Kansas NAGPRA committee’s count of Native remains held on campus had risen dramatically. Obtaining this information was not easy and required an extensive amount of research and interviews. However, it taught me so much about reporting and what it takes to report on important issues.

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In a statement to the University Daily Kansan, Thomas Torma, the University of Kansas repatriation program manager, confirmed that the inventory of Native remains on campus has more than doubled to a current inventory of 470.

According to Torma, this update came from a careful reexamination of the University’s records, as there have been no recent changes or additions to the inventory of Native remains.

Torma also said that after consulting with other museums around the country, the University of Kansas Native American Graves Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) committee estimates that the inventory of remains could reach 1,000 by the time they are finished cataloging. 

“In an abundance of caution, and to ensure that the program is fully operational, we have often used 1,000 as an easy round number to use for estimating timelines, resource needs, and other programmatic decisions,” Torma said. “That number has not gone into any formal decisions, but rather it helps us to estimate what the program might need as it develops.”

Just two weeks ago, the KU First Nations Student Association raised a tipi that stood on the lawn of Strong Hall for the entirety of Indigenous Peoples’ Week at University of Kansas. The Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion said the programming was in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day prior to the event. 

Despite this intent, members of the First Nation Student Association (FNSA) said they were shocked and hurt to hear rumors from the University’s repatriation office that the inventory of Native remains at University of Kansas had more than doubled. 

Alicia Swimmer, second year indigenous studies masters student and student senate member, was among the association’s members raising the tipi. She said after hearing rumors that the inventory of remains had risen extensively, the programming for indigenous people’s week felt performative. 

“We have a group of white people at a primarily white institution, they have their DEIB department and they’re like ‘hey we’re making them visible and helping them’ and that’s cool but it’s just like it should be like that anyway,” Swimmer said. “When it comes to things that actually matter, like these ancestors, they’re silent. I don’t care if they let me put up that tipi every week, it’s not going to erase facts.”

Only days prior to the raising of the tipi, Swimmer heard from multiple close sources in the repatriation office that KU’s inventory of native remains had risen substantially from the original estimate of 206 that the University gave in September 2022. 

Swimmer said that although she understands the University’s responsibility to respect the confidentiality of tribes, she has been disappointed in the communication between the NAGPRA committee and FNSA. 

According to Swimmer, the last time the association received an official estimate of inventory of ancestral remains was the 206 estimate from September 2022.

Naalkh DeAsis, vice president of FNSA, said that he and the Association are frustrated that they have not received updates on repatriation from the University.

“That is pretty upsetting, not knowing about the stuff that’s going on and not being kept in the loop,” DeAsis said. 

Swimmer routinely meets with University faculty to try and get updates on the state of the ancestors, but said these meetings rarely include updated numbers or locations. 

“I would like the University to allow people that are wanting to inform the community to let us know what’s going on,” Swimmer said. “I think it’s the University’s responsibility to disclose the actual number of ancestors that are here.”

Although there have been no recorded changes or additions to the inventory of Native ancestors, Torma says that the NAGPRA committee will begin a physical reassessment of the collection soon. Torma expects that their current count of 470 will continue to change following the reassessment.

Torma maintains that there is no current evidence that the inventory contains more than 470 ancestors. 

“We have no way of knowing and there is no evidence that the number is any higher than what we know we have,” Torma said. 

The ambiguity of both the inventory and the location of the ancestral remains poses a threat to campus accessibility. Swimmer said that she makes sure to update her relatives that have strict rules surrounding human remains on the status and location of the ancestors at the University. 

“I don’t know where they’re at. That’s another part of it. Where are they? We would like to know so we can avoid those places, or in my case as Lakota, I’ll go feed them and pray with them and let them know we know they’re here,” Swimmer said. 

DeAsis is a citizen of the Tlingit tribe of Alaska. In accordance with his tribe’s practices, DeAsis said he burns food to feed the ancestors housed at the University of Kansas. He said that the presence of remains could create a barrier at the University of Kansas for native students.

“When it’s people that are a part of your history, no matter which tribe you come from, any indigenous remains they kind of have a shared history, just with all the events that happened in the U.S. to get us where we are today,” DeAsis said. “I can definitely see and understand how it would make things difficult.” 

DeAsis added that the ancestral remains are not an exclusively Native issue. 

“The fact that there’s that many unidentified remains of once living people I think should make everyone on campus uncomfortable,” DeAsis said. 

Swimmer said that she hopes a broader understanding of the issue will inspire the University. 

“The ancestors affect a lot of people on campus including other people from other cultures that may not be native to this side of the globe, but might have their own beliefs around it. Maybe if the university thought that way they would get on it,” Swimmer said.