University of North Dakota professor accidentally discovers hundreds of Indigenous remains on campus

While on a search for Indigenous artifacts, a University of North Dakota (UND) English professor discovered human remains instead. According to NBC News, last winter Crystal Alberts, her assistant, and a colleague found unmarked cardboard boxes while searching in back rooms and storage closets of the university for Native artifacts.

After discovering a box with a pipe, Alberts asked Lyons, a member of  Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, for advice on how to respectfully handle the items they discovered, which consisted of more than 70 samples of human remains, many of them in boxes with no identifying information.