Understanding Section 3 of NAGPRA

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Beyond Collections: Federal Archaeology and "New Discoveries" under NAGPRA" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) became law on November 16, 1990. In the 29 years since NAGPRA was enacted, much attention has been paid to Native American human remains and other cultural items subject to NAGPRA already in museum and Federal agency collections. However, there’s another aspect of NAGPRA that impacts Federal agencies and their work. Section 3 covers the ownership of cultural items subject to NAGPRA inadvertently discovered or intentionally excavated on Federal lands after November 16, 1990. But what is actually required under Section 3? This paper will set the context for the "Beyond Collections" symposium by providing a brief summary of Section 3, including what must occur in order to allow archaeological excavations; what must happen at the time of an inadvertent discovery; who is entitled to custody/ownership of the human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony; and what dispositions of "unclaimed" cultural items are allowed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond Collections: Federal Archaeology and "New Discoveries" under NAGPRA   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23499