NAGPRA and Collections of Native American Artifacts
On
November 16, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which addressed a
long-brewing conflict between the rights of Native Americans to their cultural
heritage and the claims of museums, anthropologists, archaeologists,
historians, and collectors on the same material. Among other things, the law
established protocols for museums to return human remains and other artifacts
to tribes under certain circumstances and conditions. For decades museums made
little effort to address the provisions of the act. Recently, however, new
federal regulations have mandated compliance, hastening the pace of
repatriation, leading to the removal of many objects from display in museums,
and renewing controversies about the law.
For
this assignment, imagine you are an administrator working in the provost’s
office of a large midwestern university with numerous collections of Native
American artifacts in its museums and departmental collections. The provost
asks you to write a white paper (a report that concisely summarizes a complex
issue in order to help an institution formulate policies) about NAGPRA. She
asks you to address as many of the following questions as you can (2,000 to
2,500 words): What is NAGPRA about? Why is repatriation necessary? What have
been the arguments for and against it historically? What are the most important
contemporary debates or issues related to the law? What are the main obstacles
that have been encountered by institutions attempting to comply with the law
and by Native American groups attempting to repatriate their cultural heritage?
In what ways do collections of Native American artifacts register the legacies
of colonialism and racism? How have various stakeholders reacted to the law?
What are the most important issues raised by the law and compliance with it?
Are there any important examples of repatriation, repatriation policies,
display of indigenous artifacts, or controversies surrounding repatriation from
which we can learn important lessons?
The
exact organization and focus of your essay is up to you. It may be easiest to
begin by introducing the law, its consequences, and the controversy in general,
then to articulate a number of positions and specific issues, and to integrate,
as you go along, your own attitudes toward or original observations about the
subject. It may be helpful to use individual examples of the law’s effects or
related debates in your essay. You may wish to focus on one argument or one
instance of the controversy and include other arguments and instances in
relation to it. All essays, however, should have a clear organization, with an
introduction, a body that explores various aspects of the problem, and a
conclusion.
To
make the assignment more manageable, we have gathered together a number of
relevant articles, excerpts from books, and other material. This material is
found on the Canvas site, in a “library” located just below this assignment. It
is divided into three sections: secondary sources (scholarly essays), primary
sources (newspaper articles, editorials, letters to the editor, museum
statements, and the law itself), and other material. Your essay must cite three works from the
first section and three from the second. Those in the third
section are optional, but students who are particularly interested in the
topic, or who would like to attempt to use evidence in more creative or
evocative ways, are welcome to use them. You may also cite material that you
have found independently, but this must be in addition to those cited from the
assignment library. In general, newspaper articles are good for information,
letters to the editor and editorials declare strong opinions and may help you
formulate your own. Scholarly articles generally pursue more nuanced and
complex arguments. Your paper should not simply repeat someone else’s
arguments; instead, it should bring a variety of arguments into play, even if
you rely most heavily on one source in particular.
All ideas and
quotations taken from other authors must be properly footnoted using the rules
found in the Word document. This follows the
conventions of the Chicago
Manual of Style, which you may also consult (available online
through the library).
Remember,
cite all your sources, whether they are the ones we have given to you. You do not need to cite commonly available or known
ideas and facts.
When
evaluating the papers, we will take into consideration the extent to which the
writing is organized, concise, elegant, clear, and engaging.
Cite three works from the first section ( by grade of importance)
1) https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/12/13/2023-27040/native-american-graves-protection-and-repatriation-act-systematic-processes-for-disposition-or
2) https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/index.htm
3)https://www.nps.gov/subjects/archeology/napgra.htm
4) https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/press/field-museum-alters-cultural-galleries-in-response-to-updated-federal-regulations
5)https://peabody.harvard.edu/news/message-peabody-museum-director
6) https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collecting-practices/archaeological-materials-ancient-art-and-cultural-property
7)https://www.propublica.org/article/repatriation-nagpra-museums-human-remains
8) Clark pdf.
9) Burrelli pdf.
10) tribune Editorial pdf.
Choose three from the second section. (that they are in pdf)
Arnold and Jeske.pdf
Buikstra.pdf
Bunn-Marcuse__Here_Now_Burke.pdf
Clark1.pdf
Colwell-Chanthaphonh.pdf
Colwell.pdf
Dumont.pdf
Goldstein and Kintigh.pdf
Kakaliouras.pdf
Kelsey and Carpenter.pdf
Landers.pdf
Meighan.pdf
Meighan 2.pdf
