A Case of Repatriation and Native Americans

I recently stumbled upon a website entitled SAFE; Saving Antiquities for Everyone.  http://www.savingantiquities.org/tag/repatriation/ Their goal is to "raise public awareness about the irreversible damage to the study of history and culture that results from looting, smuggling, and trading illicit antiquities." Visitors are encouraged to donate to their cause, and are given tips on how to help items return to their homes. SAFE posts many stories and cases of repatriation. One that was interesting to me was entitled, the right to rest in peace: Native American human remains and NAGPRA final rule.

Native Americans have had a problem with the repatriation of unidentifiable remains. Some people believe it belongs to all humans, and not just Native Americans. Separately, it has been over twenty years since the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act has become a law. It still causes debates between Native Americans, cultural institutions, and academics, however. On December 12th 2010, a contributor to the New York Times, Robert R. Kelly, wrote an article about the final rule the U.S Department of Interior made on March 15 2010, concerning the disposition of Native American culturally unidentifiable human remains. Kelly is quoted with saying that the final rule will “destroy a crucial source of knowledge about North American history and halt a dialogue between scientists and Indian tribes that has been harmonious and enlightening”.

The final rule states that “if there is no request from an Indian tribe regarding culturally unidentifiable human remains, a museum or federal agency must initiate consultation with officials and traditional religious leaders of all Indian tribes from whose tribal land or aboriginal land the human remains were removed. The consultation may include Indian groups that are not-federally recognized, but are known to have a shared group identity with the human remains at issue, at discretion of the museum or federal agency.”

                Concerning the types of remains, the NAGPRA defines two of them, which are “culturally affiliated” and “culturally unidentifiable.”  Culturally affiliated remains can be link historically to a present day Native American tribe. They are repatriated to the tribe, and then laid to rest. Culturally unidentifiable are those with no lineal descendent.  Out of respect for the Native Americans, the DOI invited public comments on the issue of how to deal with unidentifiable remains correctly.

They came up with these priorities to determine repatriation

“1. Indian tribes from whose tribal land, at the time of excavation, the remains were removed;

2. Indian tribe or tribe’s aboriginal to the area from which the remains were removed;

3. Other Indian tribe who accept to take care of the disposition of the remains;

4. Not a federally recognized tribe.”

If these cases do apply to the situation, the museum or federal agency may reinter the human remains according to State or other law, however all Native Americans involved in the consultation have agreed with the final disposition.

                Native Americans have a shared history, which they feel makes them equal. This makes the case of repatriation difficult because of the interpretation of cultural heritage. The Native Americans also feel they have the right to claim their own cultural objects since it was their land, but others argue that it belongs to the United States.  Obviously, the case of repatriation even exists here in America. Any culture could have a case regarding the subject, and still, there is no clear answer to this sticky situation.

by Kiera Lanni

Sources
http://www.savingantiquities.org/tag/repatriation/