Bringing to an end an arduous five-year task, the National Park Service (NPS) has sent inventories of all Native American human remains and associated funerary objects under its control to 139 culturally affiliated Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.

NPS Director Roger Kennedy praised the effort of those who brought the taks to completion. "This accounting required the hard work of ethnographers, curators, Indian liaison officers, archeologists, historians, and many, many other dedicated National Park Service professionals," said Kennedy. "The repatriation process demonstrates our commitment to the common ground and common purpose we all share as Americans."

The effort is being carried out under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), passed in 1990. NAGPRA requires that federal agencies and institutions receiving federal funds inventory the Native American remains and associated funerary objects in their collections in consultation with culturally affiliated Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. The inventories, completed last November, had to be turned over to the appropriate Native groups by May 16.

The NPS inventory identified 4,982 human remains from 100 different parks. Approximately 77 percent were identified as culturally affiliated with present-day tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations; 1,170 were culturally unidentifiable. The NAGPRA review committee, a federal advisory group, will make recommendations on the disposition of the culturally unidentifiable remains.

"This is only the first step in returning these remains to where they rightfully belong," said Kennedy. "This is an expression of our intent to do what is right."

For more information contact Dr. C. Timothy McKeown, NAGPRA Team Leader, Archeology and Ethnography Program, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127, phone:(202) 343-4101, fax:(202) 523-1547.

Return to: The People's Paths

The People's Paths home page!