OPINION: A turning point for Native American repatriation

Earlier this month, the 35th anniversary of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) passed quietly. This landmark legislation reflected a national consensus to stop the disrespectful and unequal treatment of Native American, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native human remains and funerary items. Since 1990, museums and federal agencies have repatriated nearly 130,000 of the reported 217,000 ancestors of Native peoples in their collections. With much still to be done, the future of NAGPRA compliance is threatened.

The secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, is responsible for implementing NAGPRA. Beyond stewarding the national parks, the Park Service manages multiple historic preservation programs to protect the cultural heritage of the United States, including the National NAGPRA Program. This office handles the difficult and emotionally wrenching issues connected to repatriation.

A law about reclaiming ancestors has contributed to a broader understanding of tribal sovereignty and the recognition of tribal knowledge. Going beyond the symbolic, but largely ineffective, American Indian Religious Freedom Restoration Act, NAGPRA enfranchised tribes to assert rights in certain defined cultural items. Championed by Sens. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and John McCain, R-Arizona, and supported unanimously in Congress, the law sought to create dialogues between tribes, museums and archeological communities.

The rollout of the law took time — the new paradigm ran counter to a century of archeological and museum practices. The National Park Service had to develop regulations for procedures affecting many federal agencies, hundreds of tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, and thousands of museums. The logistics of inventorying and affiliating Native human remains and other cultural items were complicated. Over a decade of trust and program building ensued.

Since then, in addition to human remains, millions of funerary objects, sacred items and objects of cultural patrimony have been returned to Native communities. The hope for collaborations between museums and tribes has grown resulting in exhibits with Native-led stories. In one recent example, the Penn Museum unveiled a new gallery created in partnership with eight Indigenous consulting curators. The law is not perfect, but it has helped create a sea change in attitudes about the repatriation of misappropriated cultural property worldwide.

Before NAGPRA items can be returned, the National Park Service must publish a notice in the federal register. These notices are a bellwether of the progress made toward the goals of the law. The number of notices this year are comparable to those published in 2024. But the 2025 numbers reflect the years of work required before the culmination of a decision and repatriation. The programmatic disruptions inflicted by the Trump administration are threatening the progress of future work.

To realize the goals of NAGPRA, Congress authorized and has annually appropriated grant funds for tribal consultations, additional museum and agency staff, and other repatriation funding needs. This administration’s unilateral actions to defund the Institute of Museum and Library Services, cancel grants, reduce National Park Service staff and hamstring tribal funding are jeopardizing the resources needed to return the nearly 90,000 Native American human remains still in collections.

The work of NAGPRA moves at the speed of trust. It has taken more than three decades to build expertise and vital relationships. The connections between tribes, museum staff and federal agencies necessary to complete the work of NAGPRA cannot afford to be interrupted. Congress must act to fund and prevent any future diversion of funds from NAGPRA related programs.

Carla Chung Mattix served as a federal attorney at the U.S. Department of the Interior for the National Park Service, the National NAGPRA Program and the NAGPRA Advisory Review Committee from 1995 to 2021. She lives in Santa Fe.