Respecting the Past, Empowering the Present: NAGPRA, College Students, and Renewed Commitment to Indigenous Heritage

Summary

This is an abstract from the "In Search of Solutions: Exploring Pathways to Repatriation for NAGPRA Practitioners (Part IV): NAGPRA in Policy, Protocol, and Practice" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The archaeology lab at Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) has seen several changes over the last year regarding updates to their policies, protocols, and practices associated with their Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) collections. Students were trained in a hands-on lab setting in both the legal details and the practical aspects of completing the NAGPRA process. The practices conducted by lab personnel focused on training undergraduate student assistants in the proper procedures for documenting NAGPRA collections, cultural sensitivity, and the decolonization of collections management practices. Involving students in NAGPRA initiatives is an important way to teach the next generation of archaeologists to be respectful and collaborative researchers. Our goal as a lab is to not only develop our own skills as NAGPRA professionals, but also to bring awareness to NAGPRA in the broader AUM community.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• In Search of Solutions: Exploring Pathways to Repatriation for NAGPRA Practitioners (Part IV): NAGPRA in Policy, Protocol, and Practice   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38258.0