The Researcher
About the Author
Rylee LaLonde
PhD Student · MSU Department of Anthropology
Enrolled Member of Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Rylee LaLonde is a second-year PhD student in the Department of Anthropology. Her work centers on Indigenizing bioarchaeology — specifically questions of Indigenous science, traditional knowledge, methodological practice, and rhetoric.
Her current research explores Indigenous voices and perspectives concerning the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), with a focus on how communities engage with, contest, and shape the repatriation process.
Research Interests
Indigenizing Bioarchaeology
Recentering Indigenous knowledge and methodology in the study of ancestral human remains and mortuary practices.
NAGPRA & Repatriation
Examining how the law shapes and is shaped by Indigenous communities asserting sovereignty over ancestors and cultural patrimony.
Traditional Knowledge
Engaging Indigenous epistemologies as legitimate frameworks alongside — and often in tension with — Western scientific practice.
About the Project
Ancestral Ties: A Mapping Project
This project maps Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) inventories and cultural affiliations documented by institutions across Turtle Island. By visualizing the geographic relationships between Tribal Nations and the museums, universities, federal agencies, and historical societies that hold Ancestral remains and cultural items, the map makes visible a process often buried in bureaucratic databases and federal registers — and the physical distance that stands as a form of disembodiment of Native bodies from landscapes.
The goal is not simply to display data, but to situate it: to ask how far removed Ancestors are, which institutions hold these "collections," and who is taking action to return them.
How to Cite This Project
APA 7th Edition
When citing specific data layers or visualizations, include the affiliated tribal nation and your access date — for example: "Bay Mills Indian Community affiliation layer, retrieved Month Day, Year."
Contact & Links