Third, the story of what happened to the Buckeye Knoll remains — the controversy over repatriation, the competing claims of scientific priority and Indigenous sovereignty, the eventual reburial — is a story about how contemporary America is still working out its relationship with the human past.

The NAGPRA framework represents a genuine attempt to recognize the rights of Indigenous peoples over the remains of their ancestors.

Its application is often contested, frequently imperfect, and sometimes produces outcomes that are simultaneously legally defensible and scientifically costly.

Understanding why that tension exists, and why it cannot easily be resolved, is part of understanding the broader history of how America has treated its Indigenous peoples.

The Karst Landscape And Its Underground Archives