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The United States Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed in November 1990.
NAGPRA provides a process for museums and Federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items -- human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony -- to lineal descendants, and culturally affiliated Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. NAGPRA includes provisions for unclaimed and culturally unidentifiable Native American cultural items, intentional and inadvertent discovery of Native American cultural items on Federal and tribal lands, and penalties for noncompliance and illegal trafficking. In addition, NAGPRA authorizes Federal grants to Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and museums to assist with the documentation and repatriation of Native American cultural items, and establishes the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee to monitor the NAGPRA process and facilitate the resolution of disputes that may arise concerning repatriation under NAGPRA.
The principle steps of the NAGPRA repatriation process include:
Federal agencies and museums must identify cultural items in their collections that are subject to NAGPRA, and prepare inventories and summaries of the items.
Federal agencies and museums must consult with lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations regarding the identification and cultural affiliation of the cultural items listed in their NAGPRA inventories and summaries.
Federal agencies and museums must send notices to lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations describing cultural items and lineal descendancy or cultural affiliation, and stating that the cultural items may be repatriated. The law requires the Secretary of the Interior to publish these notices in the Federal Register.
NAGPRA recognizes claims by lineal descendants, Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages and corporations, and Native Hawaiian organizations.
An Indian tribe is any tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians. In NAGPRA, the term "Indian tribe" includes Native Alaskan villages and corporations. Alaska Native villages and corporations include those groups or communities defined in, or established pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The Department of the Interior has interpreted the definition of "Indian tribe" as applying to approximately 770 Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages that are recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
A Native Hawaiian organization includes any organization that: (a) serves and represents the interests of Native Hawaiians, (b) has as a primary and stated purpose the provision of services to Native Hawaiians, and (c) has expertise in Native Hawaiian Affairs, and includes the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Hui Malama I Na Kupuna `O Hawai`i Nei. The Department of the Interior has interpreted this definition to also include the Hawaiian island burial councils and various 'Ohanas (extended families).
NAGPRA required that all museums provide and disseminate a summary of their holdings of skeletal materials, associated grave goods and culturally important artifacts (those associated with religious ceremonies, etc.) by 1992. It also required that a full and proper inventory of these remains be available for inspection from November 1995. On the basis of these summaries and inventories, Native American groups can claim to have remains repatriated on the basis of a relationship between themselves and the claimed for remains.
Claims of relationship for repatriation purposes are made according to a set of priorities, drawn up as follows:
1. The first priority is that skeletal remains should be repatriated to direct lineal descendants.
2a. If none exist, but the remains were found on tribal lands - skeletal remains are to be repatriated to the Tribal group that occupies this land. (geographical continuity)
2b. If none exist but the skeletal remains are on federal lands, they should be returned to the tribe with closest cultural affiliation.
3. If no cultural affiliation, but the remains were found on federal lands assigned by the Indian Claims Commission to a particular aboriginal group - they will be repatriated to this group's custody, unless another aboriginal group makes a stronger claim.
This process of repatriation only applies to remains held in federal / state hands or remains recovered from federal lands, or Native American lands, or remains that are funded by federal monies.
Once reclaimed, Native American Indian groups can treat the remains and associated grave goods as they see fit - i.e. they can be reburied in the ground, removing them from the realm of further study.
It is important to remember that NAGPRA is about more than just skeletal remains. It is just as much about the repatriation of associated grave goods, as well as ritual objects that are considered to be the inalienable property of these Nations. Native Americans have set up an organisation specifically for the repatriation of these ritual objects. This is the Repatriation Foundation.
COMING SOON: WHY NAGPRA IS IMPORTANT TO OUR WORK IN THE UNITED KONGDOM
Page updated 09 jUNE 2010
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