Unclaimed Human Remains or Cultural Items

A Federal agency or DHHL that has custody of unclaimed human remains or cultural items must report the human remains or cultural items if:

1. One year after discovery or excavation, the Federal agency or DHHL cannot identify any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization with priority for disposition, or
2. One year after publishing a notice of intended disposition, no lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization has submitted a claim for disposition.

What must be done?

Federal agencies and DHHL must complete the step 1, and may, at their discretion, complete steps 2 to 4.

Step 1 - Submit a list of unclaimed human remains or cultural items. By January 13, 2025, submit a list of all unclaimed human remains or cultural items to [e-mail]. Update the list annually beginning December 31, 2025.

Step 2 - Agree to transfer or decide to reinter. At the discretion of the Federal agency or DHHL, agree to transfer or decide to reinter unclaimed human remains or cultural items.

Step 3 - Submit a notice of proposed transfer or reinterment. No later than 30 days after step 2, submit a notice to any consulting parties and to [e-mail] for publication in the Federal Register.

Step 4 - Transfer or reinter. No later than 90 days after publication of a notice, transfer or reinter the unclaimed human remains or cultural items and send a statement to [e-mail].

What has been reported as unclaimed by Federal agencies?

List of unclaimed human remains and cultural items (prior to 1/12/2024)

Agency and Unit	State	County	Human Remains	Associated Funerary objects	Unassociated Funerary objects	Sacred objects	Cultural Patrimony objects
DHS, US Coast Guard	CA	Yerba Buena Island	20	0	0	0	0
DOD, Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District	MO	Wayne	1	124	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Gateway NRA	NY	Queens	1	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, George Washington Birthplace NM	VA	Westmoreland	1	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Amistad NRA	TX	Val Verde	2	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Amistad NRA	TX	Val Verde	1	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Big Bend NP	TX	Brewster	1	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Glen Canyon NRA	UT	San Juan	1	0	0	0	0
DOD, Army Garrison, Fort Campbell	TN	Montgomery	2	0	0	0	0
DOD, Army Garrison, Fort Campbell	TN	Montgomery	2	18	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Hopewell Culture NHP Park	OH	Ross	1	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Petersburg NBP	VA	Dinwiddie	0	0	4	0	0
DOI, NPS, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve	AK	Northwest Arctic	2	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve	AK	Northwest Arctic	1	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Glen Canyon NRA	UT	San Juan	1	0	0	0	0
DOD, Navy, Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach	CA	Orange	1	0	0	0	0
DOD, Army Garrison, Fort Campbell	TN	Montgomery	1	0	0	0	0
DOD, Army Garrison, Fort Campbell	TN	Montgomery	2	18	0	0	0
DOD, Army COE, Louisville District	OH	Clinton	1	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Hopwell Culture NHS	OH	Ross	2	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Sleeping Bear Dunes NL	MI	Leelanau	1	0	0	0	0
DOI, NPS, Dinosaur NM	CO	Moffat	1	0	0	0	0
			46	160	4	0	0

Published notices of proposed transfer or reinterment in newspapers (prior to 1/12/2024)

Federal Agency	State	Action	Publication Dates
DHS, US Coast Guard	CA	reinter	San Francisco Chronicle, 4/12/2017 and 4/19/2017
DOI, NPS, Channel Islands NP	CA	transfer	Santa Barbara News Press, 4/10/2018 and 4/24/2018; Santa Maria Times, 4/10/2018 and 4/24/2018; Ventura County Star, 4/10/2018 and 4/24/2018
DOI, NPS, Glen Canyon NRA	AZ	transfer	Arizona Daily Sun, 7/21/2018 and 8/1/2018
DOD, Army Garrison, Fort Campbell	TN	transfer	Cadiz Record, 7/3/2019 and 7/10/2019; Leaf Chronicle, 7/4/2010 and 7/11/2019; and Steward/Houston Times, 7/9/2019 and 7/16/2019
DOI, NPS, Hopewell Culture NHP	OH	transfer	Tulsa World of Tulsa, 4/23/2020 and 5/7/2020
DOI, NPS, George Washington Birthplace NM	VA	transfer	Anadarko Daily News, Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise, and Country Courier on 02/02/2022 and 02/16/2022

Definition of Unclaimed Human Remains or Cultural Items

Unclaimed human remains or cultural items: Human remains or cultural items removed from Federal or Tribal lands whose disposition has not occurred under this part.

(i) Human remains or cultural items are unclaimed when:           

(A) One year after publishing a notice of intended disposition under paragraph (c)(2) of this section, no lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization submits a written claim for disposition, or           

(B) One year after discovery or excavation of the human remains or cultural items, the Federal agency or DHHL did not identify any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization with priority for disposition under paragraph (a) of this section.
43 CFR 10.7(d)(1)