NAGPRA Zoom talk
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Western Carolina University *
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Anthropology
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Dec 6, 2023
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NAGPRA Talk Extra Credit (10 points)
Due 3/2 by 11:59 pm
Native Americans & NAGPRA | Institute of Native
American Studies
Dr. Ervan Garrison (Choctaw) will present a talk on Native American perspectives
on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation (NAGPRA) and the
history of relevant US policy concerning Native American sites, artifacts, and
ancestral remains. NAGPRA's landmark 1990 legislation has been difficult
to implement and fraught with controversy. Dr. Garrison will discuss how NAGPRA
has changed the field for archaeology and anthropology and how Native
communities view continuing issues around this law.
inas.uga.edu
https://inas.uga.edu/events/content/2023/native-americans-nagpra
Topic: Erv Garrison Native Americans & NAGPRA
Time: Feb 15, 2023 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/98640968483?pwd=N3hWYUhZRE5ndWlUZm0xZVlyQWh6Zz09
Meeting ID: 986 4096 8483
Passcode: 445925
Reflection Prompts
1. Summarize the presentation in one paragraph.
Dr Garrison spoke on NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protections and Repatriation Act) from
his perspective and from those of other Native Americans. He covered the history of the act as
it relates to Native Americans. In 1990 NAGPRA was passed into federal law, providing a process
for museums and federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items to their
respectful tribes. These items include human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and
objects of cultural patrimony. Dr. Garrison also discussed how NAGPRA has changed
anthropology (in my opinion for the better) because it gives the Native Americans more respect
for anthropologists as they are taking their history more seriously and maintaining proper
ownership. There are also some people who still refuse to comply with the act, like the
Tennessee Valley Authority.
2. What are some of the primary struggles surrounding NAGPRA?
Some of the primary struggles surrounding NAGPRA include people finding ways to get around
the act. Like the University of Knoxville, Tennessee listing their items as “culturally
unidentifiable” so they weren’t liable for NAGPRA, eventually it caught up with them but there’s
no telling how many other organizations are doing similar things. Museums and government
agencies are finding ways to prove items non-affiliable and non-repatriable which is preventing
them from having to return items back to their tribes. There are philosophical differences
between the creators of NAGPRA and the people that run museums and agencies, this is what
keeps them from having a successful act.
3. NAGPRA legislation has been fought about for 30 years. People do not want to comply. Why?
“People” like those involved with museums and federal agencies don’t want to comply with
NAGPRA because they see it as bad for business. Museums want to have the most appealing
collections so they can remain in business NAGPRA prevents them from having collections with
certain Native American items. This can seem unfair to them as they want to have ownership
and control over items so they can be continued for use in their exhibits. Some museums have
refused compliance with NAGPRA and still have items belonging to the Native American
population in their custody. In the past certain Universities have gotten around NAGPRA by
categorizing all the Native American findings as “culturally unidentifiable”.
4. What was the most impactful thing you learned?
The most impactful thing I learned was the amount of people not complying with NAGPRA.
Being from a tribe myself, I wanted to get into anthropology to learn more about my culture as I
was largely separated from it growing up. I have little memory of being on tribe and
encountering things like rightful ownership. So, hearing about NAGPRA and how people are
disrespecting it really resonates with me.
5. What was the most surprising thing you learned?
The most surprising thing I learned from the talk is that people are going so far to prevent
NAGPRA from sending items back to their rightful owners. I never expected people to lie and
find ways to cut corners just so they could have bigger collections or make more money.
You can use this document to respond to the question prompts. Please submit your completed
Reflection via Canvas.
Grade will be based on quality of submission.
A- Clear engagement with the event and thoughtful reflection with good description and
examples to support prompts.
B- Implied engagement with the event and superficial reflection with casual description
and examples to support prompts.
C- Unclear if the individual attended the event. Passive or potentially made-up reflection
as reflected in passive description and examples to support prompts.
D- Unclear if the individual attended the event. Limited or no response to prompts.
F- Did not attend event
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