Where Does the Responsibility Lie? The Long-Forgotten Federal Collections and the Repositories that House Them

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ideas, Ethical Ideals, and Museum Practice in North American Archaeological Collections" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The federal government is responsible for a huge amount of archaeological collections in the United States, and yet not all of these collections are housed in federally compliant repositories, while many collections are not even known to exist by the agency. But whose problem is this—the archaeological repository housing the collections or the agency? Many steps have been taken by agencies over the years to locate collections and house them in compliant repositories, but there is still so much work to be done if we are to be considered ethical stewards of these collections. The responsibility for these collections, including confirming the long-term steward of the collection, should fall on the federal agencies. This paper provides a snapshot of curation efforts for various agencies and suggestions on how agencies can work with archaeological repositories to identify and confirm collections under the long-term stewardship of the federal government. When federal agencies gain a more thorough understanding of their collections stewardship responsibilities, the agencies can ensure the proper care and management of the collections in repositories through sufficient funding streams, provide increased access to descendant communities and approved researchers, and fulfill the federal requirements stipulated in 36 CFR Part 79.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ideas, Ethical Ideals, and Museum Practice in North American Archaeological Collections   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39232.0