Third Circuit Holds NAGPRA Does Not Require Repatriation of Jim Thorpe’s Remains

Here is the opinion in Thorpe v. Borough of Jim Thorpe:

Jim Thorpe Opinion [Update — the clerk has withdrawn this version of the opinion for quality control.]

An excerpt:

Thorpe’s remains are located at their final resting place and have not been disturbed. We find that applying NAGPRA to Thorpe’s burial in the Borough is such a clearly absurd result and so contrary to Congress’s intent to protect Native American burial sites that the Borough cannot be held to the requirements imposed on a museum under these circumstances. We reverse the District Court and hold that the Borough is not a “museum” under NAGPRA for the purposes of Thorpe’s burial.

Briefs here and here. Oral argument audio here.

Lower court materials here.