Human remains were unearthed on the Connecticut College campus in 1981 during the construction of an athletic field. Harold Juli, a professor of archeology at the time, conducted an excavation and recovered the individual. It was determined that the original burial was between 1550 and 1690.
But Juli still had questions about the individual. So he consulted Marc Kelley, who was a professor of biological anthropology at the University of Rhode Island. The remains were transferred to the university, and the two collaborated on osteological research.
Kristine Bovy is currently the chair of Sociology and Anthropology at the university. Bovy said in the early 1990s, Kelley left the remains at the university with little documentation. The remains were stored in a box labeled “CC 7.”
“When they did inventories in 1993, it was not on there because there was just no information. You know, nobody knew what that CC 7 meant, the people that were left my predecessors,” Bovy said.
In 1990, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA. Institutions can return Native American remains or related funeral objects in a process known as repatriation. But cases must first be registered in the national database.
Bovy said the university wanted to sort through its repository. But it struggled to process decades worth of inventory. There was missing paperwork, and the anthropologist who initially brought the remains had since died.
“We as an institution, want all our human remains to go back. We're cleaning up what, you know, my predecessors, what our anthropologists did in the 20th century,” Bovy said. “So we have no interest in holding any human remains anymore.”
When Bovy took over as chair of the department in 2019, she decided to prioritize repatriation. However, she said she quickly realized the work would require a dedicated NAGPRA coordinator, so the university agreed to hire Fiona Jones, who previously worked in Connecticut.
“So she saw the CC 7, and because she had encountered that before, was able to figure out that CC probably meant Connecticut College, which just, you know, had never occurred to me or anyone else here,” Bovy said.
In 2022, the case was registered into the NAGPRA database for repatriation. Jones contacted an archeologist at Connecticut College. They compared the description of the box’s contents with Juli’s original lab notes and confirmed what she suspected.
“Fiona happened to be working here at the right time. And you know, if she hadn't had this knowledge, if she hadn't been working here, we would have probably not... I don't know if we would have ever figured this out,” Bovy said.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe was contacted that their potential ancestor had been located. And the process of repatriation began. In November 2023, the ancestor was returned to tribal land and reburied in a private tribal ceremony.
Michael Johnson, the tribe's Historic Preservation Officer, said the process can be emotionally draining for Indigenous communities because of their connection with their ancestors.
“We were working towards getting our ancestors, you know, returned to us so that they could be laid to rest, what we would hope to be permanently and at peace,” Johnson said.
Moving forward
According to the Connecticut College website, a similar incident occurred on campus grounds in the summer of 2022. Dead ash trees were removed from the campus waterfront and an archaeological site was unintentionally disturbed. No remains were found, but it spurred the college to hire Anthony Graesch as the college archaeologist. He implemented new procedures to protect archaeological sites which included “more than 50 known Indigenous and settler-colonist burials near the Thames River waterfront.”
In May, Connecticut College held its first summit with the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot and Eastern Pequot tribes about how to better preserve Indigenous culture and heritage. Johnson said the discussion was initiated by Graesch. It was a chance for tribes to meet with professors and discuss what the process would be like if any additional burials were unintentionally disturbed in the future.
“We sort of put some of those situations on the table and to talk about, you know, okay, how do we move forward? And, what is the best process to use?” Johnson asked. “I would say we're still working through that, but having that initial step and being able to speak face to face with other people makes it very clear that they care.”
Johnson said the NAGPRA law has forced institutions to examine their internal processes. He sees more of an effort to better communicate with the tribes in their area. Johnson said the length of time for different NAGPRA cases is not just specific to Mashantucket but for tribes in general across the country.
The remains of roughly 200,000 Native Americans across the country have yet to be returned. In Connecticut, 200 Native American cases have been made available for return to tribes, according to NAGPRA records.
However, institutions have been slow to respond to the law, with several institutions taking decades to process returns and others not taking any action to repatriate ancestors. In December 2023, the Department of Interior, which runs NAGPRA, announced it would revise regulations that would implement repatriation rules.
“I think a lot of universities right now are looking at their internal processes, not just because of the rule change, but, you know, I think they recognize that it's the right thing to do,” Johnson said.
The change was implemented to streamline the requirements for museums and federal agencies to inventory and identify Native American human remains and cultural items, including, in some cases, imposing fines if necessary.
Johnson explained how the entire process can provide challenges for all parties involved. Sometimes both institutes and Indigenous tribes are overwhelmed, with many cases and little funding. The entire process can also be emotionally draining.
“For tribes in the past, NAGPRA work was often very lonely. Sometimes we've felt very much alone,” Johnson said. “So I think having another voice to talk and speak with, I think, goes a long way for emotional health and support.”
