13 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
13 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
Ruth Dukelow
Statutory Law
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Pub. L. No. 101-601, 101st Cong. 2nd Sess. (1990). 25 U.S.C.A. §§ 3001-3013.
Case Law
[Author’s note: unlike other case law in this textbook, the following is not a court opinion. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) provides for a seven-member Review Committee to monitor and review the implementation of the inventory and identification process and repatriation activities required under the Act. 25 U.S.C. § 3006.]
Federal Register/Vol. 77, No. 243/Tuesday, December 18, 2012/Notices 74875
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, National Park Service [NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–11687; 2200–1100– 665]
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee Findings Related to the Identity and Return of Cultural Items in the Possession of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Review Committee: Findings.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service’s administrative responsibilities pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3006(g)). The recommendations, findings and actions of the Review Committee associated with this dispute are advisory only and not binding on any person. These advisory findings and recommendations do not necessarily represent the views of the National Park Service or Secretary of the Interior. The National Park Service and the Secretary of the Interior have not taken a position on these matters.
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee (Review Committee) was established by Section 8 of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA; 25 U.S.C. 3006), and is an advisory body governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C. 1–16). At its November 17–19, 2010 public meeting in Washington, DC, and acting pursuant to its statutory responsibility to convene the parties to a dispute relating to the identity and return of cultural items, and to facilitate the resolution of such a dispute, the Review Committee heard a dispute between the Hoonah Indian Association, joined by the Huna Totem Corporation, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The issues before the Review Committee were (1) whether, in their request for the repatriation of 38 catalogued objects deriving from the Snail House and one catalogued object deriving from the Eagle’s Nest House that are in the possession of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the requestors proved that all the requested objects are both ‘‘sacred objects’’ and objects of ‘‘cultural patrimony,’’ as these terms are defined in NAGPRA; and (2) whether, in response to the request for the repatriation of the