Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is a United States law calling for the protection of Native American graves and the return of human remains and other cultural items important to Native Americans. The law applies to federal agencies and to institutions that receive federal funding. It requires them to repatriate (return) remains and cultural items to the Native American or Native Hawaiian groups affiliated with them. To reclaim such materials, a group must descend from the people who left the remains or who made or used the items. The group may decide to rebury any human remains and to treat returned cultural items according to their traditions.
Scholars do not know the precise number of cultural items that have been repatriated through NAGPRA. But since the law was enacted in 1990, thousands of Native American remains, funerary objects, and sacred items have been transferred from the collections of museums and federal agencies to affiliated Native American groups.
Background.
Cultural items covered under NAGPRA include (1) human remains, (2) funerary objects, (3) sacred objects, and (4) objects of cultural patrimony. Human remains in museum collections are often skulls and skeletons uncovered in archaeological excavations. Funerary objects are any goods that were intentionally placed with or near these remains. Sacred objects are ceremonial objects that were devoted to a traditional Native American religious ceremony and that are needed today by Native American religious leaders for continuing religious practice. Items of cultural patrimony have such historical or cultural importance to the group that they were not owned by any individual and could not be sold or given away by any individual within the group. The Confederacy Wampum Belts of the Iroquois (who call themselves Haudenosaunee) tribes are an example of cultural patrimony. These are belts beaded with wampum that record the history and treaties of the Five (later Six) Iroquois tribes of northeastern North America, who formed a political union that still persists today.
Many museums in the United States have Native American cultural items on display and in their research collections. Federal agencies and other institutions, such as museums and universities, acquired these items over many decades through a variety of means, including archaeological excavations, scientific expeditions, donations, and purchases from various sources. Museums often acquired and displayed cultural items to better understand how Native Americans lived and to educate the public. However, many Native American leaders objected to the study and removal of their ancestors from graves. They also questioned whether many cultural items housed in museums had been acquired by legitimate means. For example, some cultural items may have been taken without permission or sold by an individual who did not have the right to sell them. For some items, there are no records to explain how a museum acquired them. To address these concerns, the U.S. Congress passed NAGPRA in 1990. The law was enacted to balance the rights of Native American tribes and Native Hawaiian groups with the public interest in preserving, documenting, studying, and understanding past cultures.
Sections.
NAGPRA is divided into several sections that address specific concerns. A provision on collections describes the repatriation process for museums and federal agencies that house Native American cultural items. This process includes setting deadlines for museums to give information on their collections to those groups that might be eligible to seek their return. Museums must also consult with tribal representatives and traditional religious leaders to help identify those items that may be subject to the law.
NAGPRA also establishes procedures for determining the ownership of Native American cultural items found on federal land. This provision covers items that have been found and continue to be found either by accident or through planned excavations since 1990. Another section of the law makes it illegal to traffic (buy, sell, or transport for sale) Native American human remains or other cultural items.
Similar rules.
Rules and guidelines similar to NAGPRA exist in other countries. In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have moved for the repatriation of ancestral remains and sacred objects. Such efforts have been helped by the Return of Indigenous Cultural Property Program of the Australia Department of Families, Housing, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs. The program works to help repatriate Aboriginal remains and cultural items held by museums that receive government funding. Australia’s International Repatriation Program coordinates the repatriation of Aboriginal remains and cultural items from other countries.
Canada has a policy of repatriation of cultural property to First Nations, a designation for the original inhabitants of what is now Canada. However, Canada has not enacted specific laws for repatriation. Many Canadian museums have guidelines that call for the repatriation of human remains and other cultural items to Indigenous (native) communities both inside and outside Canada. The government of New Zealand began work to establish a repatriation program for Māori and Moriori remains and significant cultural items in 2003.
