Navigating State and Federal NAGPRA Regulations in California

Summary

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

In California, there are approximately 109 federally recognized tribes and at least 55 tribes not recognized by the federal government—the most of any state in the United States. Most, if not all, of these tribes have been displaced by the colonial occupation that ushered in the California Mission system and the centuries of disregard for traditional territories, treaties, and tribal sovereignty. Enactment of NAGPRA in the 1990s provided some form of recourse for Native American tribes to reclaim and repatriate their ancestors and cultural material. However, recognizing gaps in this law, in the early 2000s California enacted a state level NAGPRA law (CalNAGPRA) that provides a pathway to repatriation claims for state recognized California Native American tribes. While both federal and non-federal tribes in California have been working together on repatriations for decades, CalNAGPRA has solidified this process. While the dual federal/state process can be challenging, NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA practitioners are working together to develop best practices for concurrent NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA processes. The newly formed California Community of Practice is one such organization that provides space for practitioners to discuss best practices and acts as a training ground for those working towards efficient and respectful consultation and repatriation in California.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40434.0