The remains of more than 100 thousand ancestors of indigenous people are currently being kept in US Museums and Universities. In 1990, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act called for all remains to be returned to descendants or tribal nations. However, in the more than 30 years since the passage of that law, many institutions have been reluctant to give them back. 

A new investigation from ProPublica and NBC News has found that 10 institutions and government entities hold more than half of those remains. Joining us to to talk about the findings are ProPublica reporters Ash Ngu  and Logan Jaffe.

Their interactive report can be read here.

Ash Ngu is a reporter, designer and developer with ProPublica’s news apps team. They previously worked at The New York Times and The Pudding.

Logan Jaffe  is a reporter for newsletters at ProPublica. She previously reported and produced for The New York Times and Chicago Public Media. She is the creator of “Battle Flag,” an interactive documentary which questions the meaning of the Confederate battle flag in America.

Photo by Solstice Hannan on Unsplash

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