Teaching NAGPRA

During the summer of 1971, anthropology students on a Field Museum-sponsored trip unearthed nine skeletons under a motorcycle path. Since the dig was museum-sponsored, the students packed up the remains and sent them to be put on display at Indiana University. Upon hearing of this, Native American activists demanded that the museum not only rebury their ancestors, but also sponsor the reburial ceremony. The Field Museum complied. [1]

Natural history museums began displaying Native American remains in the 19th century, but some universities didn't begin to formalize their collections until a century later. Temple's anthropology lab and museum, established in the 1960s, is one of these collections. Housed on the first floor and in the basement of Gladfelter Hall, the lab houses Philadelphia artifacts, ethnographic items, and Native American remains. Since it was founded as a teaching collection/museum, the items housed in the lab are available for study.

But what should the anthropology lab do with the Native remains?

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), passed in 1990, can be divided into two main parts: museum practice and building projects. Museums that receive federal funds (other than the Smithsonian) must return Native American cultural items, including human remains, to lineal or tribal descendants. This provides a process for natural history museums to repatriate ancestors who were disturbed from their graves as a result of archaeological digs or modern construction.

The second part of NAGPRA provides for construction on federal or tribal lands, or using federal funds. If Native American artifacts are discovered at a building site, work must cease until an archaeologist, working either for the engineering firm or a cultural resource management firm, assesses the site.

In compliance with NAGPRA, Temple's anthropology lab is in the process of returning the remains to their ancestors. However, unlike the Field Museum case, tribal ancestors are not always easy to find, and so the remains and associated grave goods stay in Gladfelter Hall.

NAGPRA has resulted in the repatriation of over 50,000 sets of human remains. It's even pervaded American popular culture, being referenced in the tenth episode of season five of the NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation.

[1] "Indian Power Hits Museum," Chicago Tribune, August 23, 1971.

Futher Reading:

This article about the Kennewick Man delves into the nuance of NAGPRA and how it is/should be applied.