NAGPRA
Contact Us Milestones Policies, FAQs, Readings
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was signed into law on November 16, 1990. The most recent set of updated regulations became effective in January 2024.
NAGPRA established a process for repatriating Native American human remains and cultural items in the possession or control of federal agencies and museums. It also established a process for dispositioning human remains and cultural items removed from federal lands and Tribal lands on or after November 16, 1990.
This work "requires a reexamination of the ethics of collecting, stewardship, and holding of Indigenous tangible and intangible culture and ancestral remains. The law [NAGPRA] establishes minimum standards; museums [and institutions] also need an ethical standard to meet their obligations for providing true value to society.
For more information, please see the National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior) , the United States legal code for , and the .
NAGPRA at 惇蹋圖
惇蹋圖 is located within Lenapehoking, the traditional, ancestral land of the Lenape people, who have been caretakers of this area since time immemorial.
惇蹋圖 is committed to fulfilling its obligations under NAGPRA. We have complied with NAGPRA's Summary and Inventory Provisions. The College actively consults with Native American groups from across the contiguous United States, Alaska, and Hawai'i". Out of respect and sensitivity to the Tribes and lineal descendants, this is confidential, quiet work. This process is still ongoing; the timeline below lists public notices as well as ethical repatriations.
Contact Us
For repatriation requests, consultation requests, and general questions from Tribal representatives, contact the NAGPRA Coordinator:
Marianne Weldon
Collections Manager, Art & Artifacts
Special Collections, 惇蹋圖
101 N. Merion Avenue
惇蹋圖, PA 19010
610-526-5022
nagpra@brynmawr.edu
惇蹋圖's NAGPRA Committee
惇蹋圖s NAGPRA Committee evaluates repatriation requests under NAGPRA and considers requests for Native American items outside NAGPRAs scope. The committee usually meets once a month and as needed throughout the year. Committee members also participate in Tribal consultations.
The committee is comprised of representatives from the College's Special Collections department, Provost's Office and faculty representatives, and a President's Office representative. 惇蹋圖s Provost appoints faculty representative(s) to the College's NAGPRA Committee for a 3-year term.狼he committee is convened by the Director of Special Collections and Collections Manager.
2024-2025 Committee Members
- Michael H. Allen, Associate Provost and Professor of Political Science
- Millie B. Bond, Senior Advisor for External Relations and Secretary of the College
- Allison Mills, College Archivist
- Janelle Rebel, Seymour Adelman Director of Special Collections
- Carrie Robbins, Curator/Academic Liaison, Art & Artifacts
- 紼硃轍硃&紳莉莽梯;梗禳梗梭轍,&紳莉莽梯;Associate Professor of Anthropology
- Marianne Weldon, Collections Manager, Art & Artifacts
For NAGPRA and other repatriation inquiries, please contact us at nagpra@brynmawr.edu.
Compliance Milestones
Below is a timeline of key dates in the Colleges ongoing NAGPRA work, updated on a regular basis.
11/15/2024
- Ethical Repatriation
- Repatriation completed
11/14/2024
- Ethical Repatriation
- Repatriation completed
10/22/2024
- Published
- Repatriation completed
07/11/2024
- Published
- Repatriation completed
03/29/2023
- Published
- Repatriation completed
01/24/2023
- Published
- Repatriation completed
01/12/2023
- Published
- Repatriation completed
11/18/2022
- Published
- Repatriation completed
08/18/2022
- Published
- Repatriation completed
05/2022
- Submitted updated information about the collection to 21 Tribes in Alaska and 62 in the contiguous US.
03/10/2022
- Submitted a Summary to 486 Tribes describing the Art and Artifacts collections, the Anthropology Department collection, and the Geology Department collection. Some recipients' letters also included an Inventory development consultation invitation.
02/28/2022
- Published
- Repatriation completed
06/30/2021
- Contracted with Bernstein & Associates NAGPRA Consultants. Bernstein & Associates NAGPRA Consultants conducted a NAGPRA needs assessment and established a data management system, furthered Summary Provision compliance, facilitated Inventory provision compliance, and is providing ongoing technical assistance.
12/02/2010
- Submitted a NAGPRA Summary to 25 Tribes including several nonfederally recognized entities with an interest in the Aleutian Islands.
2002
- 114 Tribes and nonfederally recognized entities were identified to be recipients of a Summary provision letter. However, there is no evidence the letter was sent.
05/28/1998
- On February 3, 1998 the College accepted a gift from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Subsequently, the College submitted updated information to previous NAGPRA Summary recipients. The College also submitted a new NAGPRA Summary to Tribes not in receipt of a previous Summary. The letter (dated May 1, 1998) was submitted to 139 Tribes, including one Alaska Regional Corporation (without standing under NAGPRA). Copies of the letters were submitted to the National NAGPRA Program.
08/19/1996
- Submitted Statement of No Inventory/No Control or Possession of Any Known Human Remains or Associated Funerary Objects to the Department of the Interior.
06/10/1996
- Submitted a NAGPRA Summary (dated May 24, 1996) to the Department of the Interior and 86 recipients, including several nonfederally recognized entities in Alaska. The Summary described the College's archaeological collection.
Policies for Teaching, Exhibition, and Research
Pursuant to 43 DFR 10.1(d) Duty of Care in the updated regulations that were put into effect in January 2024, federal agencies and museums that receive Federal funds (including institutions, universities, state agencies, and local governments) are required to obtain free, prior and informed consent from lineal descendants, Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations before allowing any access to, research on, or exhibition of cultural items or human remains under NAGPRA.
The College's policy is that any materials that may be subject to NAGPRA are not on view, and are not available for teaching and/or research without permission from appropriate Tribal communities, regardless of whether they are stewarded by the College's Special Collections department or academic department(s).
The College's烤AGPRA浚ommittee is available to assist the Tribes, the campus community, and the public with NAGPRA-related questions or concerns regarding materials in our care. You can reach us at nagpra@brynmawr.edu.
幛插紮泭
Funerary objects, associated funerary objects, unassociated funerary objects, human remains, objects of cultural patrimony, and sacred objects are all protected under NAGPRA. Please see the for definitions.
Lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations may make a claim directly to the Colleges NAGPRA Committee or may request a consultation to learn more about the materials at the College. In the case of a consultation, the Committee meets with Tribal representative(s) to consult on identifications. Once a claim is received and it is established that it meets the NAGPRA requirements for repatriation, the Committee sends a public notice to the National NAGPRA Program for publication in the Federal Register.
After publication, if there are no competing claims for the requested materials within 30 days, the College works with the Tribes to return the materials in a manner that respects the Tribes preferences. For example, a Tribe may request that the College transfer legal custody of the materials to the Tribe, but that the College retain physical custody of the materials (curated and stored according to the Tribes wishes) until the Tribe indicates they are ready to receive the materials.
For more information, please see the with repatriation timelines and overviews for the and the .
It can be a lengthy process. However, the National NAGPRA Program has built-in timelines and the College, working with Bernstein & Associates, is committed to keeping the process moving and as smooth as possible.
Museums and Federal agencies must give public notice prior to disposition or repatriation of human remains or cultural items to lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations. A Notice of Inventory Completion is the notice and statement utilized for repatriating human remains and associated funerary objects. A Notice of Intended Repatriation is the notice and statement utilized for repatriating unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony. Please see the for additional information.
The College is open to discussing stewardship and repatriation of Native American materials beyond what is required by NAGPRA. Please reach out to nagpra@brynmawr.edu.
The College also acknowledges that NAGPRA only covers a specific subset of materials present in the collections of many US institutions. For related inquiries, please use the nagpra@brynmawr.edu email address and your message will be routed to the appropriate campus parties.
Further Reading
Jaffe, Logan, Mary Hudetz, Ash Ngu, and Graham Lee Brewer. "The Repatriation Project: Americas Biggest Museums Fail to Return Native American Human Remains." ProPublica (Jan. 11, 2023). Accessed August 22, 2024. .
- This article re-constructs the history of NAGPRA and describes its necessity.
Tsosie, Chelsi. Does NAGPRA finally work for tribes? Law Journal for Social Justice. Blog, March 8, 2024. .
- This article addresses the 2024 changes in legislation and their importance.