60 years ago, this country’s leaders came together and declared with a unified voice that preserving our shared history was a national priority. In signing the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the federal government codified their intention to ensure that before a highway, power line, building, or other project began, the agency responsible should work to ensure no sites of historic significance would be adversely affected and seek to avoid or at least mitigate that damage as much as possible.

Of course, that’s hardly the end of the story, because 60 years ago, the country was still in the midst of the termination period for Tribal Nations, and the NHPA was not written with our history and our interests in mind. Nearly 30 years later, however, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) program was established to give Native communities an opportunity to assert our sovereignty and have our own voices at the table to ensure our history and sacred places were given priority alongside the rest of the shared American heritage.

The THPO program has grown exponentially over the years, from the first 12 in 1996 to the 238th and 239th THPOs approved just a few weeks ago. In that time, the processes under the NHPA, while imperfect, have allowed Tribes to help protect their sacred places and cultural resources. For decades, Tribal Nations have taken the Western ideals of preservation embedded in the NHPA and transformed them into a powerful tool for cultural perpetuation, strengthening our governance systems, protecting sacred places, and carrying forward the knowledge and traditions of our ancestors. This progress reflects generations of Tribal leadership and perseverance, advancing self-determination within a system that was never designed with us in mind.

“Sixty years after the National Historic Preservation Act became law, we should be building upon that progress, not returning to a time when Tribal voices and rights were disregarded,” said Ira Matt (Séliš), NATHPO Executive Director for Indigenous Diplomacy & Federal Relations. “Yet today, Congress and federal regulators embrace an assimilation-era approach that threatens to reverse these hard-fought gains.”

Both the Senate’s permitting “reform” bill and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's proposals to “streamline” the review processes under Section 106 of the NHPA would take Tribes back to a time when their interests were ignored or at best given cursory consideration by federal agencies, back to a time when our voices didn’t matter because the federal government knew what was best for us.

NATHPO won’t sit idly by while legislators and regulators seek to roll back decades of progress so they can indiscriminately bulldoze our heritage. We welcome all who join us. 

Who we are – NATHPO is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) membership organization, founded in 1998, of Tribal preservation leaders protecting culturally important places that perpetuate Native identity, resilience, and cultural endurance. Connections to cultural heritage sustain the health and vitality of Native peoples. We provide guidance to preservation officials, elected representatives, and the public about national historic preservation legislation, policies, and regulations. We promote Tribal sovereignty, develop partnerships, and advocate for Tribes in governmental activities on preservation issues. For more information visit our website at www.nathpo.org.