Standard: Learning NAGPRA: Cultivating Ethical Practice to Implement the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10) constitutes human rights legislation enacted by Congress in 1990 to establish the rights of federally recognized U.S. tribes to request repatriation of ancestral human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. The law requires scientists in archaeology, anthropology and museums to consult with tribes to assess cultural affiliations, prepare documentation, and conduct repatriations. Scientists initially saw NAGPRA and subsequent repatriation and reburial of collections as deleterious to research goals, and some still do. Many continued their research as though nothing had changed, despite the federal mandate. This project targets a gap between indigenous and non-native stakeholders by looking at how repatriation ethics are learned, comparing how professionals at Western scientific institutions learn about NAGPRA with how professionals at indigenous institutions and tribal colleges gain this understanding. Tribal colleges are engaged as intellectual consultants in the project. We use ethnographic methods and communication studies to research ethics in this age of repatriation, and a collegium format to bring interdisciplinary multi-cultural stakeholders together to assess learning, address the potential of professional codes of ethics to aid practice, and evaluate the potential for curricula to move the repatriation-uncertain to the realm of repatriation partner. Museums, universities, and cultural resource management companies all need personnel that understand how NAGPRA works and how it can inform and guide ethical and respectful research in archaeology and anthropology. Better understanding of indigenous perspectives on repatriation may help scientists to overcome barriers to developing scholarship with tribal partners. Resistance to NAGPRA and the consultation it requires has slowed the development of applied research that might assist indigenous groups in meeting tribal goals. NAGPRA compliance that acts as an entree to collaboration has the potential to transform biological anthropology and archaeology for the 21st century. Resources that have been tested and aggregated into an open-access setting can be used internationally as indigenous people across the globe increasingly seek control over not only ancestral remains and material culture, but also heritage and representation. In addition, the collegium structure may find use in other situations in which indigenous and westernized scientific knowledge are combined. Promoting change in ethical practices at institutions whose duty is to repatriate can change the nature of relationships between scientists and descendants, and may contribute to future innovative partnerships with descendant communities.