On May 26, 1989, in Browning, Montana, members of the Blackfoot tribe
conducted a burial ceremony for sixteen of their ancestors' remains,
returned in September 1988 from the Smithsonian Institution.  The issue of
Indian remains in museum collections is both complicated and sensitive. 
On the one hand, the specimens help museums study the cultural development
of early Native Americans;  on the other, many Indian groups feel strongly
that the presence of their ancestors' remains in the custody of white 
institution is yet another example of humiliation and desecration.  There is
also a very powerful belief that the spirits of ancestors cannot rest
unless their remains are returned and given a proper reburial.  The Native
American Right Fund estimates that 600,000 specimens are held by museums,
universities, historical societies, and private collections across the
country.