Reburials planned for remains removed from Alaska islands

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Residents of the remote chain of islands stretching out from southwest Alaska are planning to bring home indigenous remains removed from burial sites nearly a century ago.

The Anchorage Daily News reported last week that officials of the Aleutian Islands are working on a three-year plan to recover the remains of more than 175 people from 11 islands that are held by the Smithsonian Institution.

Researchers say some of the remains are up to 3,000 years old.

Mark Snigaroff, president of the tribe on Atka, says officials plan to bury the first group of remains on Shemya this summer. They plan to bury the rest in 2020 and 2021.

University of Kansas researchers also will collect genetic material from the bones before the remains are returned.
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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com