How NAGPRA Works in Museums

February 9, 2016.

Evan Hawkins, of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Blog, has written an interesting post about how NAGPRA, or Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is followed through a museum staff's perspective.

"Another consultation process at DMNS involved a sacred medicine bundle and eagle feather war bonnet repatriation, but NAGPRA was not involved. The medicine bundle was needed for traditional adherence to an ongoing religious practice, and through research I found that the war bonnet was sold under duress by a woman who did not have the right of alienation. These objects belonged to a society of warriors, so they could not be sold by an individual. This is an example of objects of cultural patrimony.

Because the group requesting the consultation was a Canadian First Nation, NAGPRA did not apply. This First Nations group had American tribes in its confederacy, so DMNS [Denver Museum of Nature & Science] sought to deaccession it out of the collection so it could eventually return to Canada. However, the presence of eagle feathers made international travel impossible because of restrictions on protected species. "

-Evan Hawkins, Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

To read the full post, click here.

For more information,

Visit:

• Buffalo Bill Center of the West
• Denver Museum of Nature & Science
• National NAGPRA
• "enacted on November 16, 1990, to address the rights of lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations to Native American cultural items, including human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. "
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Glossary
• Associated Funerary Objects
• Cultural Affiliation
• Cultural Patrimony
• Repatriate
• Right of Possession
• Sacred Objects
• First Nations
• Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
• 'Bring Them Home': Rosebud Sioux Seeking Return of Relatives Buried at Carlisle Indian Industrial School
• February 18, 2016.
• NAGPRA Review Committee Gets Three New Members
• December 9, 2015.
• Jackson County Man Pleads Guilty to Buying Stolen Native American Remains
• August 19, 2015.
• NAGPRA Awards $1.5 Million for Repatriation of Ancestors' Remains and Sacred Objects
• August 13, 2015.
• National Park Service Announces Grants to Help Native Americans Identify and Repatriate Human Remains, Cultural Objects
• August 27, 2014.
• Cladoosby Hope to Initiate Repatriation Discussion with France
• February 19, 2014.
• Consultation Under NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
• February 12, 2014
• Discuss Community-Based and Indigenous Archaeology with Us!
• February 3, 2014.
• Archaeology Gone Wrong
• January 1, 2014.