Caring for Ancestors and Their Belongings in Museum Settings

Summary

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

In light of the newly proposed Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) regulation concerning “Duty of Care,” this talk hopes to assist you and your institution (regional or national) to navigate and implement best practices for the curation of historical/ethnographic, archaeological (recent and deep past), and archival Indigenous heritage. I would like to introduce the most current living policies and standards developed and implemented by experts within the field of Indigenous Museology. These resources can provide a foundation for establishing new standards, policies, and practices within and in the spirit of the proposed federal legislation. The second component of this talk will provide examples of shared stewardship practices for the care of and access to Indigenous heritage subject to NAGPRA and beyond (e.g., housing, handling, exhibits and research). We will explore how research in museum provenance and archeological provenience, and prioritizing collections access for Indigenous communities, are the most important steps needed to start consultation and engagement for the respectful and meaningful care of Native collections under our stewardship.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38931.0