Bernstein & Associates: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Specialists

Bernstein & Associates - Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Compliance Consultants

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Resources

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

NAGPRA: Writing and Managing a Successful Grant
A partnership of the National NAGPRA Program, the National Preservation Institute and the National Museum of the American Indian.

Providence, Rhode Island March 24-25, 2010 AND Phoenix, Arizona October 6-7, 2010

Purpose of the Seminar:

The National NAGPRA Program offers grants to assist museums, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations and Alaska Native villages and corporations with the NAGPRA process. Review practical tools and case studies of successful grant applications and projects. Learn how to assess the needs of a NAGPRA program, identify fundable projects, and write and manage a successful grant.

The seminar instructors are Sangita Chari, Grants Coordinator, National NAGPRA Program and Jan I. Bernstein, Director, Bernstein & Associates.

Who May Attend:

The seminar is open to participants from Native American tribes, Alaska Native villages and corporations, Native Hawaiian organizations, museums, and individuals interested in NAGPRA grants.

How to Register:

Download the registration form from http://www.npi.org and complete.

Cost and Funding Sources:

The cost of registration for the seminar is approximately $425 regular rate and $175 student.

TUITION SHOLARSHIPS - f you are a representative from a Native American tribe, Alaska Native village or corporation, or Native Hawaiian organization, the National NAGPRA Program may have scholarships available for registration. Scholarship application form can be found at www.npi.org.
TRAVEL GRANTS (accommodations, travel and per diem)
Contact the National Preservation Institute at info@npi.org or 703.765.0100 to see if these are available.

For more information contact:

National Preservation Institute

P.O Box 1702

Alexandria, VA 22313-1702
703.765.0100
info@npi.org

Additional NAGPRA Training Opportunities
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nagpra/training/index.htm

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NAGPRA MEETINGS

NAGPRA Review Committee tele-meeting is scheduled for Spring 2010
http://www.cr.nps.gov/

NAGPRA at 20 Symposium
November 15-16, 2010
Washington, DC
http://www.cr.nps.gov/

NAGPRA Review Committee meeting
Washington, DC
Noveber 13-16, 2010
http://www.cr.nps.gov/

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CARE & TREATMENT INFORMATION

Guidelines and Resources for Care of Native American Collections
University of Colorado Museum Native American Collection Access, Care and Handling Template was developed in consultation with Indian tribes from the Southwest and Great Plains.
Funding was provided by NAGPRA Consulation/Documentation Grants.
contact christina.cain@colorado.edu

Association of Art Museum Directors Guidelines for Treatment of Sacred Objects www.aamd.org/

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ARTICLES

NAGPRA - Future Applicability Rule
Article written for SPNHC by Jan Bernstein

Does the institution that you work for have Native American cultural items under its control or in its possession and does it also receive Federal funds? If so, more than likely you already know that your institution is a “museum” and therefore is legally required to comply with 25 U.S.C. 3001, which is more commonly known as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act or NAGPRA. But what you might not know is that there are new NAGPRA compliance rules for what is known in the Act as Future Applicability.

These rules apply to the following situations: 1) The museum or Federal agency acquires a new collection item or finds a previously unreported item that may be covered by the Act (covered items are Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony; 2) A previously unrecognized Indian group is recognized by the Federal government as an Indian tribe. 3) An institution in possession or control of an item or items that may be covered by the Act receives Federal funds for the first time; and 4) The museum or Federal agency revises a decision previously published in the Federal Register.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was signed into law on November 16, 1990, but it wasn’t until March 21, 2007 that the final rule for §10.13 Future Applicability of NAGPRA was promulgated. It was published in Federal Register Volume 72, Number 54 and it applies to existing and newly acquired museum collections. Those are Sections Five, Six, and Seven of the Act. It does not apply to inadvertent discoveries or planned excavations which are addressed in Section Three of the Act.

The Future Applicability rules became effective on April 20, 2007. And on that date it established statutory deadlines for completion of NAGPRA Section Five Human Remains Inventories/Notices of Inventory Completion and NAGPRA Section Six Summaries (unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony). For you organization, the first deadline may be October 20, 2007. The rule set a six months deadline to produce and distribute a NAGPRA Section Six Summary for a new holding or a previously unreported holding newly located that may be unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony. October 20, 2007 is the deadline for the Summary distribution if the new holding was acquired or found prior to April 20, 2007. Your organization has two years from the promulgation date or acquisition/discovery date to prepare a NAGPRA Section Five Human Remains Inventory/Notice of Inventory Completion in consultation with affiliated Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. If the new holding was acquired or located prior to April 20, 2007, you have until April 20, 2009 to do culturally affiliation consultation and distribute a NAGPRA Section Five Human Remains Inventory and publish a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register.

A newly Federally recognized Indian tribe has standing under NAGPRA and museums and Federal agencies covered by the Act are required by the Future Applicability Rule to send Section Six Summaries to these Tribes within six month of recognition. Federal Agencies and museums are also required within two years of recognition to prepare in consultation with culturally affiliated Indian tribes NAGPRA Section Five Inventories/Notices of Inventory Completion.

Maybe your organization didn’t receive any Federal funds between November 16, 1990 when the law passed and November 16, 1995 when the last deadline occurred. But since that time it began to receive such funds. Those funds may be flowing directly to your organization or to your parent organization. For example, maybe you are working for private college anthropology or art department and another department at the college started to accept Federal contracts or grants after 11/16/1995. Those funds have redefined your department as a museum covered by NAGPRA. If this is the case, your organization is required to comply with NAGPRA. If you find your organization is in this situation, you must within three years from the time the Federal funds were received or from the effective date of the Rule (4/10/07), whichever is later provide a Section Six Summary to Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations that are most likely to be culturally affiliated. Within Five years of the date of receipt of Federal funds, or within five years of the effective date of this Rule, whichever is later, you must prepare, in consultation with affiliated Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, a Section Five Human Remains Inventory/Notice of Inventory Completion.

If your organization previously published a Notice of Inventory Completion, but the information has since substantively changed, the Future Applicability Rule requires a Notice of Inventory Completion Correction be published in the Federal Register. A substantive change is a change in the culturally affiliated Indian tribes or a change in the minimum number of individuals count. The National NAGPRA Program will assist you with this process.

What does this mean for those of you who represent a Federally Recognized Indian tribe? Well, I hope you will see some new Summaries hitting your desk as well as an increase in the number of requests to consult in preparation of new human remains Inventories.

The rules can be found on the National NAGPRA Program’s web site. I wish you all great success in your NAGPRA compliance efforts.