Nashville’s buried Native American history and the repatriation movement

Much of Middle Tennessee’s important Native American history has been disturbed by development.

This has prompted listeners like Kelly Cannon to wonder what’s been lost. She asked Curious Nashville about something she’d heard about the Brentwood Library:

“A colleague recently told me that when the Brentwood Library was built remains were found of ancient Mississippian people, along with evidence of ancient mounds. Is this true? Where were the bodies moved to? Who took responsibility for the remains?”

WPLN’s Cynthia Abrams went to find the history of that site and shares the story — and its connections to other local sites, and the national movement for repatriation.

We’ll also talk to a ProPublica reporter about her reporting for ‘The Repatriation Project‘ and the federal law that requires remains and artifacts to be returned to tribes — as well as the failure of institutions to do so. We also welcome Tom Kunesh, who is working to protect Native American sites across Tennessee.

Guests: 

• Mary Hudetz, Investigative Reporter for ProPublica
• Tom Kunesh, President of Tennessee Ancient Sites Conservancy

You can find more Curious Nashville stories at WPLN.org/Curious and submit a question to our team below.

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This episode was produced by Cynthia Abrams and Tony Gonzalez. 

Special thanks to Blake Farmer, Mack Linebaugh and Justin Barney.

Cynthia Abrams WPLN News

When the Brentwood Library was constructed in 1997, Mississippian remains were uncovered.