Challenges in Assisting Removal Tribes in the Reburial Stage of the NAGPRA Process

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.

For over 100 years, large museums, universities, and institutions in the United States have amassed extensive collections of Native American remains and sacred objects from archaeological sites. The outcries of Native American communities who sought to protect their sacred sites and burial grounds from being repeatedly looted throughout the country were largely ignored. The passing of NAGPRA legislation in 1990 was crucial in transferring power back to Native communities to reclaim and rebury their ancestors. Despite this legislation, and efforts toward consultation and repatriation with institutions, communities struggle with the logistics regarding the reburial of their ancestors and sacred items. This is especially true for removal tribes who no longer have tribally owned land in the Midwestern states they were forcibly removed from and may not have access to the archaeological sites from which those ancestors were initially laid to rest. with a key issue is protecting the reburial sites from future looters if a state prohibits unmarked cemeteries, and the logistics around safe reburial. This poster delineates the reburial laws in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois and how these laws constrain removal tribes when trying to rebury ancestors in their homelands at the sites from which they were removed.

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): 38847.0