Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
n.a federal law, passed in 1990 (Pub. L. 101-602, 25 USC 32), that provides for the return of certain sacred and ceremonial objects held by federal agencies to the Native American peoples from which they were originally acquiredBehrnd-Klodt 2008, 196NAGPRA set nationwide repatriation standards, timetables, and procedures for the return to Native peoples of Native American human remains, burial items, sacred property, and objects of cultural patrimony from their existing locations in federally funded museums, institutions of higher learning, and state and local agencies.Joffrion and Fernández 2015, 194The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA, 1990) defines the rights of Native American lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations for the treatment, repatriation, and disposition of human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. However, NAGPRA does not address the disposition of rights associated with archival materials.
Notes
Materials held by the Smithsonian Institution are not covered by this law.
