Document Type
Article
Abstract
This article examines how Native Nations and institutions have been affected by a new directive in the revised NAGPRA regulations, the duty of care provision (43 CFR 10.1(d)), with a focus on the care of Indigenous Ancestral remains and cultural items. The Native Nation’s perspective is provided by the Osage Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology; the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the Illinois State Museum; and Indiana University share their viewpoints as institutions that house Indigenous Ancestral remains, cultural items, and archaeological collections and describe the initial impacts of the revised legislation on their programs. There are several key takeaways of its initial effects, including (1) an increased burden to Native Nations, given the substantial uptick in requests for consultation linked to new requirements for consent and the revised definitions of cultural items and research (although the end result of more consultations leading to repatriations is desired), (2) a disconnect between Native Nations and institutions regarding cultural item identification, (3) a strengthening of existing NAGPRA-related institutional policies and procedures, and (4) an emphasis on the importance of consultation between institutions and Native Nations to facilitate repatriation.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in Advances in Archaeological Practice, Volume 13, Issue 3, 2025.
Rights
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
APA Citation
Haas, J. R., Morgan, B., Lofaro, E., Thomas, J.-L., O’Donnell, S., Schreiner, N. M., & Panther, M. (2025). NAGPRA in archaeological practice: Implementing duty of care. Advances in Archaeological Practice, 13(3), 421–431. https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2025.14