Wabanaki Ancestral Remains

Wabanaki Ancestral Remains

In December 2024, the Yale Peabody Museum returned human remains and eight grave goods to the Wabanaki Nations in line with the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

The human remains belonged to an individual from the Wabanaki Nations, which include the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot Nation. They were found in a shell mound on Deer Isle, Hancock County, Maine, and were removed sometime between 1948 and 1952 by H. Gordon Rowe. It is unclear in what capacity Rowe unearthed the remains, but it seems likely that his excavations were unofficial. In 1969, the remains were donated to the Peabody by H. Gordon Rowe’s wife.

The eight grave goods, made up of red ochre, one plummet, two spearheads, and four gouges, were taken from cemeteries in Hancock, Knox, and Penobscot Counties, Maine. These items were intentional funerary goods. They also belonged to the Wabanaki Nations but were excavated by archaeologist Warren K. Moorehead around 1913. The report of the scientific excavation was published in American Anthropologist. The funerary objects were donated to the museum by George Thompson in 1926.

In accordance with NAGPRA, the Yale Peabody Museum filed public notice that they attributed the remains to the Wabanaki Nations. After the repatriation request was made, the ancestral remains and grave goods were expected to be returned in December 2024. The Yale Peabody Museum reportedly still maintains around 600 sets of human remains in its collection.

9

Human Remains – skeletons, mummies

Funerary Object – coffins, mummy portraits, grave goods

Wabanaki Nations

Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University

USA

Indigenous or sovereign nation/tribe

Human remains, cultural items to return to Wabanaki Nations after spending years in Yale museum 
https://web.archive.org/web/20250619085610/https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/community/human-remains-cultural-items-return-wabanaki-nations-after-yale-peabody-museum/97-17e2d73a-df4c-4f68-846f-26940f7ad9be

The Red-Paint People of Maine, Warren K. Moorehead, 1913 
https://web.archive.org/web/20260124100725/https://neara.org/pdf/Morehead%20of%20Red%20paint.pdf

Michela Herbert

Jason Felch