Frequently Asked Questions

The Museum did not publicly release details of individuals in response to early requests from several tribal nations. 

In September 2022, we contacted more than 300 Tribal Nations and received some early feedback with concerns about publishing the list of names on our website. To be responsive to this feedback, we did not publish the names. We instead sent lists of individuals to Tribal leaders to allow time for Tribal Nations to receive and review this difficult information. Since this initial outreach, many Tribal officials have reached out to the museum for more information resulting in personal calls and email communications. 

We recognize that ‘hair samples’ is an imperfect term. We use it, however, to maintain consistency with publications and museum records, and because we were not able to identify an appropriate alternate term. The term ‘hair samples’ in this context means clippings of hair from the head. While the amount of hair collected from individuals varies, on average the clippings of hair are between three to six inches long and range from just a few strands to a few dozen strands of hair. We recognize that the length or amount of hair does not minimize the impact of its collection. Woodbury also prepared approximately 300 individual glass slides from this set of hair samples. To make the glass slides, a strand of hair was encapsulated in resin and then a slice of that was used on the slide to view under a microscope. The collection also includes these approximately 200 pieces of resin containing hair.

The clippings of hair are located within the historical envelopes prepared by George Woodbury with the information provided to him by the initial collectors. This information often included age, sex, degree of blood, ethnic group, and name of individual. In our communications with families and Tribal Nations, we are honoring requests for spiritual and traditional care. 

The collection also includes hair collected from individuals in Asia, Central America, South America, and Oceania. Further information, including provenance will be shared as soon as possible.

Further information on the collection and its history of access at the Museum is available on Summary of Research on the Collection.

If you are a representative of a Tribal Nation or potentially a lineal descendant looking for the historical documentation about this collection, please email us at pmreturns@fas.harvard.edu. 

On November 30, 2022, after review, the Department of the Interior informed the museum that the collection is subject to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). We are working with the Department of the Interior’s National NAGPRA Program on implementation of the NAGPRA process with respect to the Woodbury Collection. The museum and the Department of the Interior are committed to a partnership with the aim of a respectful, effective, and efficient returns process, while still following the requirements of the regulations.   

The current process for returns can be found on Returns through NAGPRA.

We welcome requests from origin communities, descendant communities, Indigenous nations, and national governments. Requestors are asked to include documentation of cultural affiliation (a relationship of shared group identity) or, when a request is not made by an origin or descendant community, documentation that they have the legal standing and authority to make a claim. Requests are made by the recognized official representative of the community governing body, nation, or state for such matters (e.g., Tribal chair, elected or appointed community leader, etc.). Requests are formally acknowledged upon receipt and reviewed by designated Museum staff. The review process for cultural items consists of three stages: 1) an initial review of the cultural item being requested, the requestor’s reasoning and relationship to the cultural item, and any associated documentation; 2) review by Museum advisory committees that provide recommendations to the Museum’s Director; and 3) administrative review and issuing of a final decision, usually by the Provost of the University.  The process for the return of ancestral remains also involves a review by the Human Remains in the Harvard Museum Collections Returns Committee.

You can find more information on returns of cultural items and ancestral remains at International and Domestic Returns Beyond NAGPRA.

Nation affiliations have been directly transcribed from records taken by collectors in the 1930s. The listed affiliations are a product of those collectors, whose own bias or ignorance may have resulted in misspellings or offensive or racist terminology. Woodbury did not collect clippings himself, but rather Federal agents, administrators, teachers, and other people to whom Woodbury reached out to with his request for hair clippings.