NAGPRA Grants

Section 10 of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make grants to museums, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations for the purposes of assisting in consultation, documentation, and repatriation of Native American “cultural items,” including human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.

Two types of grants are available – Consultation/Documentation Grants and Repatriation Grants. Each has a separate application process. The National NAGPRA Program, within the National Park Service, administers both Consultation/Documentation and Repatriation Grants.

Eligibility: Museums with possible NAGPRA collections, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations as defined in NAGPRA are eligible to apply. See page 2 of the FY2012 Grant Guidelines for detailed eligibility requirements.

Consultation/Documentation grants: Project-based grants to support the efforts of both museums, Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to consult and document NAGPRA-related human remains and cultural items.

Award: Competitive grant, awarded once per year

Amount: $5,000 to $90,000

Deadline: Applications due March 6, 2013

Consultation. Museums and Federal agencies must consult with known Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations that are, or are likely to be culturally affiliated or have demonstrated a cultural relationship with the human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony, and in the absence of likely culturally affiliated tribes, those with aboriginal land history in common with the site of the excavation of the human remains or other cultural items and those on whose tribal land the site of excavation was located. Consultation should lead to determining control, treatment and disposition of NAGPRA-related human remains and objects. The consultation process is outlined in 43 CFR 10.5, 10.8 (a),10.9 (b) and 10.11.

Documentation. Under NAGPRA, the term documentation refers to the existing museum or Federal agency records including inventories or catalogues, relevant studies, or other pertinent data for the limited purpose of determining the geographical origin, cultural affiliation, and basic facts surrounding the acquisition and accession of Native American human remains and cultural items.

Repatriation grants: Project-based awards to defray costs associated with the packaging, transportation, contamination removal, reburial and/or storage of NAGPRA-related human remains and/or cultural items.

Award: Non-competitive, grants awarded on a continuing basis throughout each fiscal year

Amount: Up to $15,000

Deadline: Applications accepted October 1 through June 15. Repatriation grant applications should be submitted at least 8 weeks prior to the scheduled repatriation. Please note that funding may take an additional six weeks to become available after signing the grant agreement.

Repatriation . The term repatriation means the transfer of control, of Native American human remains and/or cultural items pursuant to the requirements of NAGPRA to lineal descendents, Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. This includes transfer of control upon cultural affiliation and/or tribal or aboriginal land disposition determination as indicated in a Notice of Inventory Completion.

 All grant awards are contingent upon available funds.

* Applicants are encouraged to take advantage of the optional pre-review of their grant. NAGPRA staff will review a draft of the narrative portion only of the grant application and offer feedback based on past successful applications. The pre-review process has no impact on the final application process and in no way influences the scoring of applications. If you have any questions or would like to submit a draft application, please email your draft to NAGPRA_grants@nps.gov . Please allow 2 weeks for review.

Application Guidelines and Forms

Consultation/Documentation Grants and Repatriation Grants (mandatory):

• FY2013 Grant Guidelines (PDF)
• FY2013 Grant Application PDF or MS Word
• SF424: Application for Federal Assistance PDF or MS Word
• SF424: Instructions PDF

Consultation/Documentation Grants only (mandatory):

• FY2013 Consultation/Documentation Grant Proposal Cover Sheet PDF or MS Word

Repatriation Grants only (mandatory):

• FY2013 Repatriation Grant Proposal Cover Sheet PDF or MS Word
• Transfer of control document for repatriation grants (prior to funding)

Additional Grant Resources:

Featured grant proposals and final projects including a bibliography of sample deliverables.

Journeys to Repatriation: 15 Years of NAGPRA Grants (1994-2008) analyzes the impact of the NAGPRA grants program. Filled with stories, quotes and statistics, this publication highlights the important role the NAGPRA grants program has played in repatriation efforts around the country. Click here to download a copy or email nagpra_grants@nps.gov to request a free copy.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number for NAGPRA Grants is 15.922.

Information for Grantees

Click here for information and forms to help manage your current grant.

Awards to Date:

The National Park Service has awarded NAGPRA grants since 1994. From 1994 through July 2012, 739 NAGPRA grants have been awarded. Click for the complete list of NAGPRA grant awards to date.

• 479 NAGPRA grants totaling $25,048,743 have been awarded to Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages and corporations, and Native Hawaiian organizations.
• 260 NAGPRA grants totaling $13,232,732 have been awarded to museums.

Contact Information: