NAGPRA in the Medicolegal System: An Exploration of the Interaction of State and Federal Legislation for the Recovery and Handling of Human Skeletal Remains

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Four Decades of NAGPRA, Part 1: Accomplishments and Challenges" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is a federal law that was passed in 1990. In the 30 years since the law was passed it has faced resistance and scrutiny from the museums, universities, and scientists who are meant to comply with the law. The medicolegal system (Medical Examiners and Coroners) is an institution that has not traditionally been considered to be subject to NAGPRA's regulations, and therefore has operated outside of the law's sphere. However, Kleeschulte (2018) identified that as the medicolegal system both receives federal funding and has control over Native American human remains, they fall under the law's definition of museum, and therefore must comply with its regulations. Using ethnographic research constructed using Community Based Research Principles, this paper examines how medicolegal practitioners respond to discoveries of human remains, a process dictated by state law, and how these remains, if determined to be non-forensically significant and Native American are subsequently handled and dispositioned. This paper also examines the relationship between state legislation for the recovery and handling of human remains and NAGPRA, and provides recommendations for a path forward.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Four Decades of NAGPRA, Part 1: Accomplishments and Challenges

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52094