National Park Service Press Release
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
For Immediate Release:
March 30, 2007
Contact(s):
David Barna, 202.208.6843
Timothy McKeown, 202.354.2206
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Museums and Federal agencies subject to the provisions of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) have until October 20, 2007, to complete required summaries of their collections or holdings.
The deadline is one of several included in final regulations published in the Federal Register March 21 outlining procedures for the future applicability of the law to museums and Federal agencies. The new regulations go into effect on April 20.
To date, 774 museums and 289 Federal agency units have provided summaries or inventories to approximately 770 Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. The October deadline applies to museums and Federal agencies that have received new collections or holdings since they completed their summaries, or have collections or holdings affiliated with a newly acknowledged Indian tribe.
NAGPRA, a Federal law enacted in 1990, address the rights of lineal descendants, Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony with which they are affiliated. The law requires federal agencies and museums to consult with tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, provide summaries and inventories of their collections, and upon receipt of a valid claim, repatriate cultural items to the appropriate parties. The regulations are online at
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nagpra/MANDATES/43_CFR_10_13_%20Final%20Rule%2003-21-07.pdf
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