NAGPRA
History of Compliance
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)1, enacted in 1990, mandates all institutions 1) in possession2 of Native American human remains (hereafter, Ancestors), funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony (hereafter cultural items) and 2) that are recipients of federal funding, to repatriate those holdings to Lineal Descendants, Federally Recognized Native American Tribes, and Native Hawaiian Organizations. Compliance with this law requires that all protected Ancestors and cultural items undergo a formalized process of inventory, summary, consultation, and repatriation鈥攚hich includes public notification of progress through the Federal Register at established intervals to ensure transparency. As an institution meeting these criteria, the 香港管家婆资料免费大全 (UGA) recognizes its legal, but also ethical, obligation to act in accordance with NAGPRA regulations outlined in 43 CFR Part 103.
Non-NAGPRA Indigenous ceramic vessel from Morgan County, Georgia
INITIAL EFFORTS
Initial compliance efforts at UGA began shortly after NAGPRA鈥檚 enactment, with an assessment of University holdings led by the Department of Anthropology鈥檚 Laboratory of Archaeology (hereafter, the Laboratory), under the direction of former Director, David J. Hally. As a longstanding hub of archaeological research and a curation facility for cultural materials excavated throughout the state of Georgia, it was immediately known that the Laboratory held custody4 of large collections likely to contain Ancestors and cultural items protected under NAGPRA. With financial support from UGA leadership, the Laboratory assisted with the initial identification of NAGPRA holdings in its custody, the implementation of an inventory organization system involving assignment of specimen and control numbers, and the integration of contextual information from archaeological reports, publications, and other documentation with these materials.
In an effort to identify Ancestors and cultural items at UGA outside of the Laboratory, letters were sent to UGA Vice Presidents, Deans, and Academic Directors informing them of the University鈥檚 obligation to comply with NAGPRA and requesting information about any known holdings that might meet eligibility criteria. According to the responses still retained by the Laboratory, the majority of recipients had limited knowledge of Ancestors and cultural items located elsewhere. Responses that did include information about potentially sensitive holdings were vague and do not appear to have ever been investigated further.
The 香港管家婆资料免费大全 Laboratory of Archaeology聽
All Laboratory collections containing Ancestors were sent for basic osteological analysis to Clark Spencer Larsen, a biological anthropologist then of Purdue University (currently at the Ohio State University), and later to Larsen鈥檚 student Matt Williamson. Around this time, archaeologist Elizabeth Misner was also hired to begin identifying funerary objects within the Laboratory鈥檚 holdings. Information generated through these efforts, representing a total of 42 archaeological sites in Georgia, was consolidated by the Laboratory into two reports鈥攖he first concerning collections deemed to be culturally affiliated with Federally Recognized Native American Tribes, and the second reflecting those determined at the time to be unaffiliated, due to a lack of contextual information.
According to a letter sent to Bryndis Roberts, former UGA Vice President for Legal Affairs, on August 4th, 1995, the Laboratory attempted to arrange consultation with the Tribes thought to be affiliated with the Ancestors and cultural items represented in the first report, including: the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Kialegee Tribal Town, Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Miccosukee Tribe, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. The Laboratory also attempted to assess Tribal interest in consultation through a second letter sent in April of 1994, in the hope that it would assist in the acquisition of a grant to support the travel of Tribal representatives to UGA. Unfortunately, this funding was not obtained, and no consultation ever took place.
The Laboratory of Archaeology’s curation facility
In November 1995, the two reports were submitted to the National NAGPRA Program5 in fulfillment of the NAGPRA regulations in effect at that time. After this submittal, NAGPRA efforts stagnated at the Laboratory, and as a result, no formal policies or plans to continue NAGPRA implementation were instituted and no further attempts at consultation were made. Upon reviewing the available documentation of UGA鈥檚 compliance efforts in the 1990s, it is evident that although there was an attempt to achieve University-wide NAGPRA compliance, it was neither comprehensive nor ever completed.
RENEWED FOCUS
In 2019, the Laboratory underwent a transition in leadership that soon recognized a plan was needed to address unresolved Ancestors and cultural items, with an end goal of placing the Laboratory in a better position to communicate, consult, and share resources and authority with Tribal Nations6. Immediate steps were taken to reevaluate the information submitted by the Laboratory to the National NAGPRA Program in 1995. It was soon discovered that the previously composed collections inventories and summaries were based on a complicated set of procedures and codes originally built in a Quattro Pro 4.0 spreadsheet, later transferred into a Paradox 3.5 database, and eventually imported into numerous Excel spreadsheets. The interpretive challenges posed by this system hindered the Laboratory鈥檚 ability to navigate the NAGPRA holdings in its care and disseminate readily accessible information to Tribal Nations.
Members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s Historic and Cultural Preservation Department visit the Laboratory of Archaeology in 2022
It was also found that, while the reports originally submitted to the National NAGPRA Program technically contained the information required by NAGPRA compliance regulations, it was not submitted in the appropriate format and thus never published in the Federal Register. These reports remained with the National NAGPRA Program until retrieved by the Laboratory for review in 2019. These missteps ultimately hindered Tribal consultation on the Ancestors and cultural items and their ability to formally submit repatriation claims.
Miranda Panther from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Historic Preservation Office visits the Laboratory of Archaeology in June 2022
The Laboratory has since applied for and been awarded two NAGPRA Consultation Grants from the National Park Service to support these renewed efforts and to amplify the voices of Native American partners in every stage of the process. This has included the creation of a secured, restricted-access space within the Laboratory鈥檚 curation facility, known as the Reverential Area, to house all Ancestors and cultural items until such a time that they can be repatriated and returned to their descendants. With the assistance of these partners, the Laboratory also developed and adopted its internal NAGPRA Policies & Standards (2021)7, Reverential Area Access Policy (2022)8, and NAGPRA Care & Trust Agreement (2021)9 to guide daily practice. In the fall of 2021, the importance of timely compliance, embedded with the highest standard of ethics and integrity, received renewed attention from UGA leadership, prompting a partnership to be formed between the Laboratory and the 香港管家婆资料免费大全 Integrity & Safety, designed to oversee all University NAGPRA compliance efforts moving forward.
Members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation visit UGA in September 2024
Since the reignition of NAGPRA compliance efforts at UGA, the Laboratory has submitted three Notices of Inventory Completion11 and six Notices of Intent to Repatriate12 to the National NAGPRA program for publication in the Federal Register. Specialized staff continue to work through the process of reassessing University holdings and preparing to repatriate those protected under NAGPRA within the timeframe required by the new regulations. UGA is committed to engaging in this process in a highly collaborative manner that seeks to prioritize the interests and needs of its partnering descendant communities13.
In collaboration with UGA鈥檚 Native American partners, this team led the development of the UGA NAGPRA Policy (2024)10, that will enable a new assessment of all University holdings for NAGPRA-eligible materials, as well as the creation of a diverse UGA NAGPRA Committee to guide that process. The enactment of the Policy and formal charge of the Committee are especially timely, as the United States Congress passed significant revisions to NAGPRA compliance regulations on January 12th, 2024, intended to expedite institutional repatriation and eradicate loopholes that previously enabled institutions to retain NAGPRA holdings.
UGA students visit the College of the Muscogee Nation in Okmulgee, Oklahoma while participating in the collaboratively developed Enfulletv-Mocvse (Muskogean for “new ways”) in Archaeology Field School.
END NOTES
1 Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act (1990),
2 Possession or control is defined as having sufficient interest in an item to direct, manage, oversee, or restrict use of that item. To learn more about NAGPRA terminology, visit the NAGPRA glossary.
3 Current NAGPRA Regulations,
4 Custody is defined as having an obligation to care for an item due to a loan, lease, license, or bail. To learn more about NAGPRA terminology, visit the NAGPRA glossary.
5 National Park Service鈥檚
6 Thompson et al. (2023),
7 UGA Laboratory of Archaeology NAGPRA Policy & Standards (2021)
8 UGA Laboratory of Archaeology Reverential Area Access Policy (2022)
9 UGA Laboratory of Archaeology NAGPRA Care & Trust Agreement (2021)
11 All UGA Notices of Inventory Completion聽can be found here
12 All UGA Notices of Intent to Repatriate can be found here