BLM Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center Reinvigorating NAGPRA at BLM Canyons of the Ancients

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Reckoning with Legacy Exhibits, Data, and Collections" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

As a Department of Interior (DOI) museum and the largest of three repositories within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum (CANM) curates cultural materials from permitted archaeological projects, and numerous items from law enforcement actions and private donations. With promulgation of the revised NAGPRA Regulations (43 CFR 10) released on January 13, 2024, the bureau has prioritized compliance. In turn, the CANM Curation Program has committed our efforts to this foundational responsibility and ethical imperative. Facing significant capacity and funding limitations, we have reorganized our curatorial workflows, implementing a team-based, triaged approach to tasks and priorities. By rethinking our internal processes, we have also improved the ways that we communicate and build relationships with Tribal partners. As a result, we will update and implement culturally informed protocols for Duty of Care provisions regarding access, exhibition, handling, and housing. We are committed to addressing legacy compliance issues (repatriating ancestors and funerary objects and updating summaries) and facilitating disposition of objects removed from BLM lands after 1990. It is time to move beyond minimum compliance requirements and create restorative management practices that prioritize the wishes and goals of Tribal communities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Reckoning with Legacy Exhibits, Data, and Collections   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 54082