Bloomington, Indiana – Indiana University has made history by completing its first international repatriation of human remains, returning them to the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island. This significant event marks a major step forward in global repatriation efforts and highlights IU’s dedication to ethical museum practices and Indigenous rights.
Jayne-Leigh Thomas, executive director of IU’s Office of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), played a crucial role in the repatriation process. In December, she traveled to Easter Island as an invited guest of Rapa Nui representatives, strengthening ties between the university and the island’s Indigenous community.
“To know that I played a small part in returning these Rapa Nui ancestors to Easter Island is overwhelming and so personally rewarding,” Thomas said. “To be so warmly welcomed onto the island, to build relationships with Rapa Nui representatives, and to have the opportunity to see the rich cultural heritage and visit archaeological sites was simply incredible.”
The remains in question were originally donated to Indiana University in the 1990s by David M. Lodge, a descendant of U.S. Navy Rear Admiral George Henry Cooke. Cooke had served as a surgeon and medical officer during Ulysses S. Grant’s world tour from 1877 to 1879. Later, he was aboard the USS Mohican when it visited Easter Island in 1886, collecting large stone statues known as moai for the Smithsonian Institution.
One key figure in the repatriation effort was Francisco Nahoe, a Catholic priest and Franciscan friar. As a great-great-grandson of Pakomio Mā‘ori, a survivor of the Peruvian slave raids of 1862, Nahoe has dedicated himself to recovering and repatriating the remains of his ancestors. He currently serves as the North American delegate of Te Mau Hatu, the Easter Island council of elders, for recovery and repatriation efforts.
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“Everyone knows the unique legacy of material culture that we inherited from our ancestors, whom we call tupuna,” Nahoe said. “The whole island is an outdoor museum of monumental statuary constructed on a scale unmatched anywhere. The Polynesians who carved the moai were themselves a tiny and completely isolated population. It is the crania of these Neolithic sculptors that Euro-American collectors carried away.
“We, their modern descendants, believe it is our duty to find and recover their remains. Moreover, the United Nations and the Organization of American States have emphatically asserted the right of Indigenous peoples to repatriate their ancestral remains.”
This repatriation is part of a broader movement by the Rapa Nui people, who have been working with institutions in New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Canada, the United States, and Chile to bring their ancestors home. Nahoe and his cousin, Rapa Nui archaeologist Susana Nahoe, attended IU’s Intensive NAGPRA Summer Training and Education Program (INSTEP) in 2024, which Thomas directs. This program provides best practices for repatriation under NAGPRA, and its international appeal has grown as more Indigenous communities seek to recover their ancestors’ remains.
“There’s no question that 35 years of compliance with this act have generated an ethos of repatriation in the United States,” Nahoe said. “IU, however, is now leading the way by working on these issues with Indigenous communities beyond NAGPRA.
“Museums and universities have understood that it is not merely obligatory to return ancestral remains, it is also right and just. And if this is true within the United States, it must also be the case outside the boundaries of federal jurisdiction as well.”
During her time on Easter Island, Thomas met with government officials and community leaders to discuss future collaborations. Plans include international repatriation education, an osteological training program, and an artist-in-residence initiative that could bring modern Rapa Nui sculptors to IU Bloomington.
Beyond her work with the Rapa Nui people, Thomas continues to expand IU’s leadership in repatriation efforts. She and Nahoe are currently collaborating on a book that will provide guidance on repatriation practices worldwide. Additionally, she is advocating for the creation of a repatriation certificate as part of select IU master’s degree programs, which would educate students on NAGPRA, consultation practices, and the broader importance of repatriation work.
Thomas also hopes to embark on larger repatriation projects in collaboration with IU law faculty and the IU Global Gateways initiative. These efforts aim to establish best practices for repatriation beyond U.S. borders and promote ethical approaches to museum curation and archaeological research.
“IU is fully committed to our NAGPRA work and has several large repatriation projects underway with numerous federally recognized tribal nations, but we also support the return of all Indigenous human remains, not just those from the United States,” said IU Vice President for Research Russell J. Mumper. “We are focused on creating strong partnerships and developing mutually beneficial research projects that highlight repatriation, ethical museum practices, and archaeological scholarship with Indigenous communities in the U.S. and abroad.”
This landmark repatriation signals a new chapter in IU’s commitment to justice and cultural sensitivity in handling human remains. It also serves as a model for other institutions seeking to address the legacy of colonial-era collection practices. Through ongoing collaboration and advocacy, IU is helping to reshape the global landscape of repatriation and cultural heritage preservation.
