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Frequently
Asked Questions
About this FAQ
National NAGPRA has developed answers to the most frequently asked
questions regarding NAGPRA and its implementing regulations. For
additional information on the specialized terms used in NAGPRA,
see the NAGPRA Glossary.
What
is NAGPRA?
The Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is a Federal law
passed in 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.
Who
is responsible for complying with NAGPRA?
All Federal agencies are subject to NAGPRA. All public and private
museums that have received Federal funds, other than the Smithsonian
Institution, are subject to NAGPRA. (Repatriation by the Smithsonian
Institution is governed by the National
Museum of the American Indian Act of 1989, 20 U.S.C. 80q.)
What
is the repatriation process 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.
For
more information, go to Law and
Regulations.
Who may claim
Native American cultural items under NAGPRA?
NAGPRA recognizes claims by lineal descendants, Indian tribes, 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. 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).
We are a nonfederally
recognized tribe. May we still participate in the NAGPRA process?
Under NAGPRA, only Federally recognized Native American tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations
may claim cultural items. NAGPRA does not require museums and Federal
agencies to consult with nonfederally recognized tribes. However,
the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review
Committee has recognized that there are some cases in which
nonfederally recognized tribes may be appropriate claimants for
cultural items. Museums, if they wish, may consult with nonfederally
recognized tribes. Museums and Federal agencies that
wish to return Native American human remains and cultural items
to nonfederally recognized tribes must make a request
for review of a proposed disposition to the Review Committee.
Our museum has never submitted a NAGPRA inventory
or summary, and we are concerned that we may be out of compliance.
What should we do?
The National NAGPRA program recognizes that making collections information
accessible to lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian
organizations is an important goal of NAGPRA. The National NAGPRA
program provides technical assistance to museums and Federal agencies
that need to prepare NAGPRA summaries and inventories for the first
time. You may contact National
NAGPRA staff by telephone or e-mail, and a staff
member will be assigned to work with you. National NAGPRA staff
members do not initiate civil penalties investigations.
What do
"control" and "possession" mean?
NAGPRA says that museums and Federal agencies must prepare inventories
and summaries of cultural items in their control or possession.
"Control" means having a sufficient legal interest in
human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural
patrimony to lawfully permit the museum or Federal agency to treat
the objects as part of its collection for purposes of NAGPRA, whether
or not the museum or Federal agency has physical custody of the
human remains or objects.
In
other words, control is having a legal interest with
or without physical custody, while possession is having
physical custody. For example, if a
museum has physical custody of Native American human remains or
cultural items, but lacks legal interest (for example, when a museum
is holding a collection on loan from another institution or a private
collector), then the museum does not have control of these remains
or items for NAGPRA purposes. For more information, see the NAGPRA
Glossary and Law and
Regulations.
What's
the difference between "associated" and "unassociated"
funerary objects in NAGPRA?
Both associated and unassociated funerary objects are cultural items
that are reasonably believed to have been placed with individual
human remains either at the time of death, or later as part of the
death rite or ceremony of a culture. Under NAGPRA, funerary objects
are considered to be "unassociated" if the human remains
with which the objects were placed are not in the possession
or control of a museum or Federal agency. Funerary objects are considered
to be "associated" if the human remains with which the
objects were placed are in the possession or control of a
museum or Federal agency.
Note
that a funerary object is an associated funerary object if the human
remains are in the possession or control of any museum or Federal
agency, not necessarily the same museum or agency that has possession
or control of the funerary object. Also note that "associated
funerary objects" includes those items that were made exclusively
for burial purposes or to contain human remains.
For
more information, see the NAGPRA
Glossary and Law and
Regulations.
What's
the difference between "repatriation" and "disposition"
as used in NAGPRA?
The term repatriation means the transfer of legal interest in Native American human remains and cultural items to lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations. The term disposition has been used for the Review Committee development of a process regarding culturally unidentifiable Native American human remains. The rule 43 CFR 10.11 became final March 2010. In effect, transfer of interest in Native American human remains and cultural items is repatriation, regardless of whether they are regarded as culturally affiliated or culturally unidentifiable.
In NAGPRA, the term disposition refers to the return of cultural items excavated or inadvertently discovered on Federal or tribal lands after November 16, 1990, to lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations.
For
more information, see the NAGPRA
Glossary and Law and
Regulations.
If Native American remains are discovered
during a construction project, does NAGPRA apply?
The excavation and inadvertent discovery provisions of NAGPRA apply
only to Federal and tribal lands. Under NAGPRA, tribal lands are
lands (including private lands) within the exterior boundaries of
an Indian reservation. If the burial ground is not on Federal or
tribal land, then the excavation and inadvertent discovery provisions
of NAGPRA do not apply. However, other State and Federal cultural
preservation laws may apply, and State or local cemetery laws may
also apply. For information on other State and Federal cultural
preservation laws, contact your State
Historic Preservation Office. For details on the excavation
and inadvertent discovery provisions of NAGPRA, go to Law
and Regulations.
We recently completed
a repatriation. Can we apply for a NAGPRA repatriation grant to
reimburse our costs?
No. Applications for NAGPRA repatriation grants must be submitted
well in advance of repatriation activities. National NAGPRA recommends
that repatriation grants be submitted at least 6 weeks in advance
of the repatriation. For more information, go to Grants.
Our tribe is
being overwhelmed by consultation requests related to Federal undertakings
and inadvertent discoveries. Are there grant funds available to
help?
NAGPRA authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make grants to
Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organization for the purpose of
assisting such tribes and organizations in the repatriation of Native
American cultural items. These grants are limited to activities
related to the documentation and repatriation of collections from
museums, and may not be used to fund consultation and other activities
related to undertakings, inadvertent discoveries, and excavations.
However, funds may be available through the National Park Service
Tribal Preservation
program. The Tribal Preservation program administers Historic
Preservation Fund Grants to Indian Tribes, Alaskan Natives, and
Native Hawaiian Organizations, which may be used for cultural
preservation projects.
How many Native American human remains and
cultural items have been repatriated since the passage of NAGPRA?
There is no single source for this information. While museums and
Federal agencies are required to keep their own record of repatriations,
NAGPRA does not require museums and Federal agencies to report repatriations
to the Secretary of the Interior or to the National Park Service.
Museums and Federal agencies are required, however, to publish notices
in the Federal Register when they have determined that Native American
human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and/or objects
of cultural patrimony are culturally affiliated and are eligible
for repatriation. The National NAGPRA program compiles statistics
twice yearly on the total number of Native American human remains,
funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural for which
Federal Register notices have been published. The current statistics
(updated on September 30, 2009) are as follows --
Human remains: 38,671 individuals
Associated funerary objects: 998,731 (includes many small
items, such as beads)
Unassociated funerary objects: 144,163 (includes many small
items, such as beads)
Sacred objects: 4,303
Objects of cultural patrimony: 948
Objects that are both sacred and patrimonial: 822
Our tribe's contact
information in the Native American Consultation Database is incorrect.
How can we update the information?
The contact information provided in the Native American Consultation
Database (NACD) is based on the list of federally recognized Indian
tribes maintained by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. To change your
contact information as it appears in NACD, send a letter with the
new contact information to National
NAGPRA. The letter must be an original (no photocopies,
please) on tribal letterhead, signed by an authorized tribal official.
Our museum
has cultural items that were originally collected from Federal land.
Does our museum have NAGPRA responsibility for these cultural items?
Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects,
and objects of cultural patrimony that were originally from Federal
lands are usually under the control of the Federal agency that managed
or manages the land from which the human remains or other cultural
items were removed. In such cases, it is the Federal agency, and
not the museum, that has the responsibility for carrying out the
NAGPRA process. The museum may wish to contact the appropriate Federal
agency to discuss how the NAGPRA process will be completed. Museums
should also be aware that Federal archeological collections in nonfederal
repositories are also subject to Federal regulation 36
CFR 79, "Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered Archeological
Collections." For more information, see Museums
and the NAGPRA Glossary.
Does NAGPRA
apply to cultural items that originate outside of the United States?
No. The NAGPRA regulations "apply to human remains, funerary
objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony which
are indigenous to Alaska, Hawaii, and the continental United States,
but not to territories of the United States" [43 CFR 10.1(b)(2)].
For more information, go to International
Repatriation.
Our tribe has learned that a museum located
in another country has control of cultural items that may be culturally
affiliated with us. Does NAGPRA apply to institutions outside the
United States?
No. NAGPRA is United States law, and applies to United States museums
and Federal agencies. However, the United States does have agreements
with many foreign nations regarding the movement of cultural property
across borders. For more information, go to International
Repatriation.
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