The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin announced that they have received word from the University of Michigan Office of Research confirming the Tribe’s cultural affiliation claim with remains from the Backlund Mound and Village site in Menominee County, Michigan. The claim was made following the guidelines of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Following the announcement, the Tribe will work with the University of Michigan with the goal of transferring possession of the remains. Menominee Tribal Chairman Gary Besaw says the revelation confirms their claims of ancestral connection to the land, but only reaffirms what the Menominee people have known for generations. Besaw adds that thanks to the hard work of many, they are closer to properly returning the remains of many ancestors, who are inappropriately disturbed and held in university collections.