NAGPRA Practice as Death Work: Determining a Need for Grief-centric Training for NAGPRA Practitioners

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.

NAGPRA practice entails working with death. This occurs when practitioners are engaging with the Dead, the circumstances of their occurrence in collections, and the wider scope of systemic violence that prompted the need for NAGPRA. NAGPRA practice is a type of death work. However, in the institutions that comply with NAGPRA, practitioners do not receive preparation to cope with their own grief brought on by their work or the grief of their Native American partners. Meaningful NAGPRA practice involves interpersonal relationship-building and interactions that broach potentially traumatic conversations. Having a foundation in grief-centric training would allow NAGPRA practitioners to not only practice self-care in their own work but also amplify the pursuit of healing which is the spirit of NAGPRA.This study surveyed NAGPRA practitioners, individuals who are responsible on some level within their institutions for the implementation of NAGPRA. Using likert scales, the participants were prompted with questions about the relationship between their practice and grief, their confidence and ability in approaching the grief of their tribal partners, and their perceived need for additional training that is grief-centric. The results help estimate a need for grief-related training or preparation for NAGPRA practitioners.

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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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39813.0