Introduction

Welcome to this special issue of the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology. The articles that follow include a wide range of information relevant for planning and completing a large-scale repatriation and reburial. All the authors participated in the Angel Mounds repatriation project, from collection research and consultation to repatriation and reburial to caring for the new gravesite. We hope that our experiences will be helpful to others as they work through the myriad challenges often encountered in order to return those who were disinterred to the earth. This special issue is particularly relevant as 2025 was the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990.NAGPRA is a human-rights law that establishes a legal framework for the removal of American Indian and Native Hawaiian human remains and cultural items from institutional control and the return of these ancestors and their belongings to lineal descendants and descendant communities. Amendments to the act in 2024 are forcing museums, universities, and other repositories to accelerate the pace of repatriation. Although repatriations are becoming more common, overall progress has been slow, and few case studies are available to assist those planning for repatriations and reburials. Furthermore, each repatriation's constellation of descendant communities, institutional stakeholders, and NAGPRA collections is unique. This uniqueness—especially because sharing a repatriation experience with others is sometimes appropriate and sometimes not—also contributes to the limited availability of published accounts of successful repatriations. In this special issue, we strive to strike a balance between providing pertinent information for those planning repatriations and safeguarding cultural details that should remain known only to those who participated in the Angel Mounds reburial.This collection of articles thus is assembled to address the dearth of practical information available to those charged with consulting about, organizing, and conducting repatriations and reburials, especially those of larger scale and complexity. However, we fully recognize that, while this special issue is an opportunity to share our experiences and assist others, the nature of every repatriation is much broader and much more complex than any single publication can hope to cover. The Angel Mounds repatriation and reburial was a collaborative effort, one that worked through a number of logistical challenges with descendant Tribal communities, Indiana University, the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, and several other state and federal agencies.Collectively, the articles in this MCJA special issue offer a repatriation road map, one that details the steps successfully undertaken in spite of the complications inherent in reburying ancestors and funerary objects at a high-profile, publicly accessible National Historic Landmark. The contributions include background information about Angel Mounds, collections documentation, archaeological records and field research, planning efforts and collaboration, legal-requirement compliance, and descendant community perspectives. Although we have focused here on the Angel Mounds repatriation, we believe that the difficult questions we faced and the obstacles we overcame will make this compendium of articles broadly appealing. While readers are encouraged to read the entire special issue, we realize that some may have more targeted interests. Some of the contributions will be more useful to Tribal Nations, especially those responsible for the repatriation of substantial and complex collections, while others will appeal more to those working on the institutional side of the NAGPRA process, including those who are new to it. Indeed, as the following articles demonstrate, NAGPRA work is a balance between legal requirements and moral imperatives.The articles are arranged in a loose chronological order, based in part on the sequence in which actions were taken to complete the NAGPRA repatriation and reburial at Angel Mounds. Preceding them is the preface, written by Julie Lankford Olds, cultural resources officer of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. Authored by someone who has managed NAGPRA consultations, repatriations, and reburials since the 1990s, the preface tenders a long view of the importance of NAGPRA, meaningful consultations, relationship building, and respect. Olds's perspective illustrates that, although each repatriation and reburial is unique, commonalities for Tribal communities include the daunting emotional vicissitudes associated with the process. She reminds us that repatriation can bring both closure and new opportunities.The first article, by Christina M. Friberg and Edward W. Herrmann, describes the lifeways of the people who lived at Angel Mounds about a thousand years ago and articulates how many of the daily issues they faced are the same as those we confront today. The article also highlights aspects that made the Angel Mounds community unique, such as its monumental architecture that incorporates celestial alignments. This article is included specifically to furnish useful information to those who may not be familiar with Ohio Valley histories and to link the Angel Mounds inhabitants with living descendant communities.The Kelsey Grimm and Edward W. Herrmann article that follows focuses on the Works Progress Administration (WPA) excavations at Angel Mounds, which were the primary source of the enormous collections acquired from the site. The article provides relevant background about large-scale Depression-era excavations and artifact curation, contextualizing the contemporary work needed to repatriate WPA legacy collections. The contribution also is important for those readers with an interest in the history of archaeology, particularly in the Midwest, as it offers perspective about 1930s field excavations and recording methods employed by publicly funded, untrained labor.In the next selection, Olof Olafardottir-Hamilton and colleagues outline the intricate, detailed process of documenting the Angel Mounds collection. This article will be valuable to anyone documenting NAGPRA osteological collections, particularly legacy collections. The authors describe the importance of locating all human remains and associated funerary objects so that each individual and each object within the collections was respectfully accounted for and so that the ancestors could be reunited with their belongings. They review the use of archival records and past institutional curation practices as ways to track collection proveniences in order to find and document all parts of a collection.In the next article, Herrmann and colleagues explain the steps required to satisfy the Tribal Nations’ goal to rebury their ancestors on the traditional landscape from which they were removed. This article discusses pre-reburial tasks, including the fieldwork needed prior to reburial on an archaeological site that is not only a State of Indiana Historic Site but also a National Register of Historic Places historic property and a National Historic Landmark. In showing how Tribal goals were operationalized at Angel Mounds, the article exemplifies the special issue's broader usefulness for those planning large repatriation reburials and for those contemplating reburials on known archaeological sites.Michele Greenan and Susannah Koerber discuss the unique set of ownership circumstances for both the Angel Mounds collections and the physical site itself in their article. From their perspective as stewards and managers of property owned by the State of Indiana and held in the public trust, the authors review the ownership issues and their potential implications for others in similar situations. In examining the complex bureaucratic and legal landscape that the Angel Mounds repatriation project negotiated, they reiterate the Indiana State Museums and Historic Sites’ dedication to always keeping foremost the desires of the various Tribal Nations involved to bring their ancestors home.Jayne-Leigh Thomas and April Sievert direct their article toward those responsible for managing repatriations. They emphasize the importance of trust building and suggest best practices for providing user-oriented information in consultation with repatriation partners. They outline the steps necessary to the Angel Mounds repatriation project's success, from obtaining funding to facilitating consultations to choosing a reburial location to coordinating partner involvement to completing the reburial. This article anchors those preceding it, reiterating some of their more significant messages and placing the Angel Mounds repatriation in a larger context.In the final article, Rebecca A. Hawkins and R. Scott Willard present the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma's perspective about the Angel Mounds repatriation project, from consultation through reburial. They overview tribal history in southern Indiana, where the Angel Mounds site is located, and then evaluate their experience with the NAGPRA process. They emphasize the importance of ensuring Tribal Nation inclusivity, establishing good working relationships, and allowing adequate time for thorough collections assessment and thoughtful consultation. The authors hope that this contribution catalyzes readers to think about repatriation and reburial less “archaeo-myopically” and more from the vantage point of descendant communities.The epilogue, serving as the final chapter, by MCJA editor Rob Cook and Rebecca Hawkins, situates this special issue in a disciplinary-wide perspective, reinforcing the importance of collaboration between descendant communities and NAGPRA-collection-holding repositories. Cook and Hawkins suggest that archaeologists think about repatriation as an opportunity, not a burden, and certainly not a loss.The special issue editors recognize and honor the Angel Mounds claimant tribes: the Quapaw Nation, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Shawnee Tribe, as well as all the other affiliated and consulting Tribes. We thank Julie Lankford Olds, Cultural Resources Officer for the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, who created the beautiful cover art for the special issue, in addition to authoring the preface. We thank Bill Lovis, Jenny Davis, Mel Miller, Cody Blackburn, Ryan Bulmer, and other anonymous reviewers who strengthened the special issue by providing comments that challenged us to reevaluate and clarify our writing. We thank Mike Linderman, Western Regional director for State Historic Sites and Site Manager for Angel Mounds, who was instrumental to the reburial and who facilitated many aspects of the work reported here. We thank the leadership and staff from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, and Indiana University for significant contributions to the project. We are especially grateful to Provost Lauren Robel, Indiana University Bloomington, for ensuring that the University prioritized Tribal Nation goals.Finally, we would thank all the authors who have contributed to this special issue and Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology editor Rob Cook for his insight, encouragement, and patience. Dr. Cook foresaw the importance of this special issue to Tribal interests, as well as to museums, colleges and universities, and other repository institutions—and to those teaching about NAGPRA in the classroom and in other training venues.We dedicate our work to collaborative partnerships and restorative justice.