The Nation - News from Feb. 13, 1986

Two organizations of American Indians are accusing the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History of violating Indians’ religious rights by refusing to return its collection of 14,000 American Indian skeletons for reburial. Bruce Smith, a museum curator of anthropology and assistant to acting museum director James Tyler, said that the Smithsonian is willing to turn skeletons over to recognized tribal leaders if the remains have a “clear biological or cultural link” to modern-day tribal units.