HELENA, Mont. - Clarence "Curly Bear" Wagner, an American Indian historian who pressed for repatriation of ancestral remains to tribes, died Thursday. He was 64.

Wagner died of cancer Thursday at a hospital on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, said his cousin Walter Lamar.

A cultural director for the Blackfeet Tribe, Wagner shared his culture through his travels in the United States and Europe. However, he always considered the Blackfeet Reservation his home, Lamar said.

As a young man, Wagner was on the board of the American Indian Movement, Lamar said.

Later, Wagner worked for the return of human remains that were released in 1988 by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and in the 1990s by Chicago's Field Museum, officials at the museums confirmed Monday.

Eileen Maxwell, a spokeswoman for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, said Wagner also was an important figure in the 1990 passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Wagner helped establish the "Native America Speaks" interpretive program at Glacier National Park and often presented the program to park visitors, park spokesman Wade Muehlhof said.sday at a hospital on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, said his cousin Walter Lamar.

A cultural director for the Blackfeet Tribe, Wagner shared his culture through his travels in the United States and Europe. However, he always considered the Blackfeet Reservation his home, Lamar said.

As a young man, Wagner was on the board of the American Indian Movement, Lamar said.

Later, Wagner worked for the return of human remains that were released in 1988 by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and in the 1990s by Chicago's Field Museum, officials at the museums confirmed Monday.

Eileen Maxwell, a spokeswoman for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, said Wagner also was an important figure in the 1990 passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Wagner helped establish the "Native America Speaks" interpretive program at Glacier National Park and often presented the program to park visitors, park spokesman Wade Muehlhof said.