Native American Studies > Reference Resources By Topic

Repatriation (NAGPRA)

The United States Congress passed the Public Law 101-601, Native
American Graves and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), on November 16, 1990.
This law addressed a long-standing concern of Native Americans:
organizations are required to return any human remains and associated
grave goods (known as cultural items) and specific ceremonial objects
(known as sacred objects) to the Native peoples from which they were
taken. In addition, tribes must be consulted directly before any
excavations of Indian sites are undertaken. NAGPRA attempts to
redress the wholesale removal of Native cultural property that took
place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by
governmental and private institutions and individuals.

Green, Rayna. American Indian Sacred Objects, Skeletal Remains,
Repatriation and Reburial: A Resource Guide. Washington, D.C.:
American Indian Program, National Museum of American History,
Smithsonian Institution, 1994. HBC 95-13889
Authoritative guide to the process of repatriation.

Mending the Circle: A Native American Repatriation Guide:
Understanding and Implementing NAGPRA and the Official Smithsonian
and Other Repatriation Policies.
New York: American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation,
1996. HBC 98-2199

Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains? Edited by
Devon A. Mihesuah. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. HBC
01-340
Describes the Native versus non-Native scientific viewpoints.

United States. Congress, Senate. Committee on Indian Affairs.
Implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act: Hearing Before the Committee on Indian Affairs,
United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, first session...
December 6, 1995. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.: Supt. of Docs.,
Congressional Sales Office, 1996. READEX Microfiche Y. 4. IN 2/11: S.
HRG. 104-399. Y 4. IN 2/11 : S. HRG. 104-399 (at SIBL)