Beyond Collections: Federal Archaeology and "New Discoveries" under NAGPRA

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Beyond Collections: Federal Archaeology and "New Discoveries" under NAGPRA," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), enacted in 1990, has affected Federal agencies’ and museums’ collections practices and philosophy as well as relationships with indigenous groups across the U.S. But NAGPRA’s impact goes beyond collections, especially for Federal land management agencies and those working on public lands. The statute’s Section 3 (Ownership) and the associated regulations – 43 CFR 10.3 (Intentional archaeological excavations), 10.4 (Inadvertent discoveries), 10.5 (Consultation), 10.6 (Custody), and 10.7 (Disposition of unclaimed human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony) – address the ownership or control of Native American human remains and other cultural items subject to NAGPRA excavated or discovered on Federal or tribal land after November 16, 1990. These provisions have direct implications for how archaeologists in Federal agencies do their work and coordinate with other archaeologists—academic and CRM—working on Federal or tribal lands. This session will address changes in agency policy and practice, and the opportunities and challenges encountered in a post-NAGPRA environment by Federal archaeologists from the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Bureau of Reclamation.