For decades, Native American remains have been stored at the state’s flagship university, with only some returned to their homelands and little consultation with Indigenous leaders about the fate of the others.

But over the past few months, after a tribal member brought the issue to a Nevada Indian Commission meeting last year, the university has taken greater steps to correct the historic injustice. 

Nevada tribal leaders and community members have been processing the news of human remains at UNR and working with UNR officials on the issue as outrage has spilled over across the U.S. and Canada over the way institutions and governments have treated Indigenous communities. 

Last month, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is a citizen of the Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico, announced a full review of federal boarding schools, and Native people across the country are still reacting to the news that investigators discovered hundreds of bodies at former boarding schools in Canada run by the Catholic Church. 

At a two-hour meeting last week, tribal leaders and historic preservation officers joined UNR President Brian Sandoval and representatives from the anthropology department regarding various collections of Native American remains housed in the university. 

Please read the full article here: Sandoval and Nevada Native leaders confront issue of human remains stored at UNR, begin working toward returning them home

This portion of the article is shared as part of our collaboration with The Nevada Independent. This story was originally published on July 13, 2021, and written by Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez.