Human remains or other cultural items that are intentionally excavated or inadvertently discovered on federal or Indian land after 16 November 1990 are subject to somewhat different provisions of NAGPRA. As with museum and agency collections, lineal descendants have the highest priority as claimants of human remains and associated funerary objects. If the remains or other cultural items are from Indian land, ownership lies with the tribe on whose land they were discovered. Failing that, ownership or control is vested in a culturally affiliated tribe if one is identified and makes a claim. In the absence of a culturally affiliated tribe, a tribe that is legally recognized as having aboriginally inhabited, the area in which the remains or objects were discovered can claim them. The disposition of human remains or objects that are not claimed will be determined by regulations that have not yet been issued by the Department of the Interior.
The intentional excavation of Native American human remains or other cultural items on federal or Indian land is allowed only with a federal permit (issued under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act) and after consultation with appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Inadvertent discoveries of human remains or other cultural items on federal or Indian land entail prompt notification of the land-managing agency or tribe, consultation with appropriate tribes, and if ground-disturbing activities precipitated the discovery, cessation of those activities.
NAGPRA does not govern ongoing excavations on nonfederal, non-Indian land. However, human remains or other cultural items recovered from these lands as a part of a federal undertaking are subject to the National Historic Preservation Act (16 USC 470 et seq.) In the absence of any federal entanglement, state law or local ordinance may apply.
World History
