A Brief and True History of SAA's Involvement with NAGPRA

Summary

SAA was heavily involved in NAGPRA's passage, and played a key role in shaping the compromises embodied in this law. The Society's positions with respect to the many repatriation bills considered by Congress were conditioned by SAA's "Statement Concerning the Treatment of Human Remains," a policy adopted in 1986. SAA strongly and actively supported the final bill precisely because it conformed closely, albeit not perfectly, to the principles articulated in this statement. The policy was also consistently applied in determining SAA's responses to the many regulatory and legislative issues that arose during the first two decades after the law was passed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• NAGPRA Applied: Stories from the Field on its 25th Anniversary

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