From ABC News: Ray Halbritter, Representative for the Oneida Indian Nation of New York, has to travel over 200 miles to visit one of his ancestors, who is held deep in the collections of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The building conjures memories of school field trips and blockbuster films like “Night at the Museum” for many, but for folks like Halbritter, the institution stands for something darker: injustice against Native Americans.
“For institutions, they’re remains,” Halbritter told ABC News. “For our people, it’s our grandmothers and grandfathers. It’s people who we descended from.
One Oneida ancestor’s remains were stolen from the Oneida Indian Nation’s lands outside Syracuse, New York, in 1898, according to a repatriation notice in the federal register, and sold to a collector who later gifted them to the museum, where they have been sitting in archives for more than 100 years. With the help of new federal guidelines, Halbritter said his ancestor is finally coming home.
Watch the video below and visit abcnew.go.com for more.
