The story about response to 2010 federal regulations can be found various places, including here.
Although the story focuses primarily on the University of California, Berkeley and the Kumeyaay Nation, it also mentions a variety of other universities, including the University of Michigan. Last month, UM’s NAGPRA Advisory Committee issued policies and procedures along with a cover letter. A previous post about the regulations can be found here.
From the U-M Record Update:
A new federal rule that takes effect today regulating the transfer of Native American human remains provides an important opportunity for U-M to work with Native American communities.
| More information Click here to go to the Web site of the Advisory Committee on Culturally Unidentifiable Human Remains under NAGPRA. |
That’s the view of Stephen Forrest, vice president for research. His office will oversee the transfer of human remains controlled by the university but for which no culturally affiliated Indian tribe has been identified.
“Of course we will respectfully comply with the law,” Forrest says. “But more importantly the rule gives us a framework for establishing trust and strengthening working relationships with Indian tribes in Michigan and elsewhere.”
The new rule was adopted as an extension of rules implementing the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, which gave standing to lineal descendents and culturally affiliated tribes to seek repatriation of burial remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and cultural patrimony. It did not address the disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains.
In the collection of the Museum of Anthropology, U-M has the remains of about 1,600 Native American individuals unidentifiable with an existing tribe.
Forrest says both his office and the Museum of Anthropology are seeking additional staff to facilitate the outreach to tribes, consultations and transfers.
While some are worried that the transfers will limit future research opportunities, Forrest sees it differently.
“Developing trusting relationships may facilitate future communications about ways of asking and answering questions of broad interest to both the university and native communities.”
Last fall Forrest appointed the 12-member Advisory Committee on Culturally Unidentifiable Human Remains under NAGPRA to provide advice and guidance on the procedures used to notify and consult with groups from whose tribal or aboriginal lands the remains were removed.
NAGPRA requires federal agencies and organizations that receive federal funds to submit to the U.S. Department of the Interior inventories of Native American human remains in their possession, and to include their best judgment as to whether the remains are culturally affiliated with a present day Indian tribe or known earlier group, or are culturally unidentifiable because no shared group identity can be reasonably traced.
Culturally affiliated remains are repatriated upon request after a public comment period.
The new rule specifies that after appropriate consultation, culturally unidentifiable remains are to be transferred to a Native American tribe from whose tribal or aboriginal lands the remains were excavated or removed.
Now that the new rule has clarified the process, Forrest says his office will be the university point of contact for requests and will take the necessary steps to facilitate the respectful transfer of Native American human remains in the U-M collection to tribes.
From the Michigan Daily:
About 40 people met in East Hall Friday to participate in a roundtable discussion of the new regulations of the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act and the effects it will have on the repatriation process of culturally unidentifiable remains currently in the University’s possession.
NAGPRA — a federal law that has been in place since 1990 — requires museums to maintain lists of Native American artifacts in their possession, make those inventories available to the public and work with tribes to repatriate the artifacts.
Last month, a NAGPRA committee approved changes to the act that require museums — including the University’s Museum of Anthropology, which currently holds about 1,400 culturally unidentifiable remains — to consult with tribes from the areas where the culturally unidentifiable remains were exhumed and ultimately to return the remains.
The roundtable was hosted by the Ethnography-As-Activism Workgroup, a group comprised mostly of University graduate students that is part of the Rackham Interdisciplinary Workgroup program and is committed to using ethnography to promote activism.
The discussion, which coincided with the annual Dance For Mother Earth Powwow that was held over the weekend at Saline Middle School, aimed to focus on how the University will implement the new NAGPRA regulations, which go into effect next month.
Representatives from several tribes from across the state received a rousing applause from the group as they spoke passionately about the importance of having the remains currently in the University’s possession repatriated.
“It’s easy. Right is right. Wrong is wrong. Immoral is immoral,” one of the representatives said. “The law is on the side of (our) grandparents who lie in cardboard boxes. That’s where the spirit of that law is. Nobody else. This is why the Indian people of this state are alienated from this University — because of that single issue that the University is unwilling to discuss it with any of us.”
In addition the representatives, Toni Antonucci, chair of the University’s Advisory Committee on Culturally Unidentifiable Human Remains under NAGPRA, Wenona Singel, associate director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University and University of Michigan Anthropology Prof. Stuart Kirsch each gave short presentations and helped facilitate a group discussion afterward.
MOVING TOWARDS THE FUTURE
Friday, April 9
2:30-3:30pm
4448 East Hall
With the new federal regulations of Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) regarding “culturally unidentifiable” human remains becoming law in May, this roundtable, sponsored by the Ethnography-as-Activism Repatriation Subgroup, seeks to explore the University of Michigan’s future in the process of implementing these new regulations.
Please join us for short presentations from our panelists followed by what we hope is an engaging conversation.
Speakers:
- Dean Toni Antonucci
- Chair, Advisory Committee on Culturally Unidentifiable Human Remains (CUHR) under NAGPRA; Associate Vice President for Research – Social Sciences and Humanities; Professor, Department of Psychology; and Research Professor, Institute for Social Research
- Professor Wenona Singel
- Assistant Professor of Law & Associate Director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center at Michigan State University
- Professor Stuart Kirsch
- Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, UM
For more information about our group and about NAGPRA, please visit our website:
From the Daily:
The University is set to begin implementing a process that will see the transfer of Native American human remains to Indian tribes, according to a University press release sent out today.
The decision came after a March 15 ruling by the United States Department of the Interior concerning how museums and other agencies — including the University — should deal with unidentified Native American human remains.
Under the terms of the ruling, unidentifiable remains must be returned to the tribes from whose land the remains were originally excavated, the press release stated.
The University currently possesses about 1,400 unidentified remains, according to the release.
Stephen Forrest, the University’s Vice President for Research, wrote in the release that the University is currently developing a process for the transfer of the remains.
“The rule change announced last week provides a clear path for the transfer of the human remains in our possession,” Forrest wrote in the release. “We will move down that path in a transparent, swift and respectful manner.”
The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology currently possesses unidentifiable remains from 37 states, according to the release.
Here, from the UM Record Update.
The text:
U-M has begun outlining a process for the transfer of Native American human remains to Indian tribes.
Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest said the most recent activities are in response to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s March 15 publication of a final rule clarifying how museums and other agencies — including the university — should handle Native American human remains that are under their control but for which no culturally affiliated Indian tribe has been identified.
| Other resources • Web site of the Advisory Committee on Culturally Unidentifiable Human Remains under NAGPRA • Culturally Unidentifiable Native American Inventory Database for the U-M Musem of Anthopology |
“Now that the Department of the Interior has clarified the rule for transferring culturally unidentifiable human remains, it is important that the university reach out to tribal leaders and facilitate the transfer process,” Forrest said.
Forrest said he anticipates having a process in place by the time the new federal rule takes effect May 14. The university has in its possession the remains of about 1,390 individuals unidentifiable with an existing tribe.
“The rule change recently announced provides a clear path for the transfer of the human remains in our possession,” Forrest said. “We will move down that path in a transparent, swift and respectful manner.” Officials and traditional religious leaders will be included in the consultation process. A letter to relevant tribes will be sent soon. Continue reading
Excerpt from the Michigan Daily:
* * *
LSA sophomore Alys Alley, the co-chair of the Native American Student Association at the University, wrote in an e-mail interview that she and other members of the group believe that the new rule will mean that the culturally unidentifiable remains in the University’s possession will be returned to their respective tribes.
“Many of those remains that are held by the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology are the ancestors of the Native American students on campus, including myself, and I can say confidently that we are looking forward to the return of our ancestor’s remains to our communities,” she wrote.
She added that the status of the “culturally unidentifiable” remains in the University’s possession has caused a lot of tension between the University and Native American groups in Michigan.
“This whole situation with the 1,390 Native American human remains in the U of M Museum of Anthropology has caused a lot of pain for the Native American community; we have struggled to see our ancestors return home for many years,” she wrote.
From the Detroit News:
The University of Michigan will work with tribes on the disposition of unidentified Native American human remains held by the university to comply with newly released federal rules.
The National Park Service on Monday announced the rule to establish a process to repatriate remains in museums or on exhibit which have not been culturally affiliated with a tribe.
The rules, which go into effect May 14, require universities and federal agencies with unidentified remains in their collections to work with tribes that lived in the areas where the remains were exhumed.
There are more than 124,000 unidentified Native American human remains in the United States, including some held by U-M’s Museum of Anthropology.
From Ann Arbor.com (formerly the Ann Arbor News):
The University of Michigan will have to re-examine its holdings of Native American human remains under a change to federal guidelines announced today.
The U-M Museum of Anthropology has about 1,400 human remains in a storage facility that are 800 to 3,000 years old.
The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, known as NAGPRA, requires museums, federal agencies and institutions to inventory holdings of human remains and identify their cultural affiliations with tribes. Native groups can then claim the return of remains deemed to be culturally affiliated with them.
Frank Bartley III, an Odawa Indian and a U-M student, beats the drum and sings with other Native Americans in front of Fleming Hall in Ann Arbor before a U-M regents meeting in this 2008 file photo. The gathering was part of a request to the regents to return Native-American remains.
Ann Arbor News file photo
Facing criticism for still holding the remains of about 1,400 Native Americans in its archaeological collection, the University of Michigan will be reviewing its policies on how to properly deal with Indian bones and artifacts.
A committee charged with looking at the legal, ethical and scientific concerns involved will meet for the first time next week and “will hear all sides of the story,” said Stephen Forrest, vice president for research at the Ann Arbor school.
“We want to have a very balanced approach,” he said Friday. “We are actively seeking to understand all the aspects of the problem.”
At issue is the conflicting interests of researchers and museums in studying and teaching about earlier human cultures and that of native peoples to have their religions and ancestral remains respected.
Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act passed by Congress in 1990, federally supported institutions must catalog the remains and burial items they hold and return them, when requested, to groups that have a “cultural affiliation” to them. Continue reading
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