Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 7, 1 July 2011 — Senate committee high lights NAGPRA [ARTICLE]

Senate committee high lights NAGPRA

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, held an oversight hearing on "Finding our way Home: Achieving the Policy Goals of NAGPRA." The June 16 hearing reviewed the policy aims of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the Nahonal Museum of the American Indian Act, focusing on the federal repatriation process established by those laws. Representatives from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, National Park Service, Smithsonian Nahonal Museum of the Ameriean Indian, the Native American cultural and preservation eommunity, and tribes and organizations testified on the best practices and challenges in repatriating remains, funerary, sacred and patrimonial objects and the progress made by federal agencies and museums in achieving NAGPRA goals. The U.S. Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers and National Park Services were the most eompliant federal agencies, largely due to centralized data and dedicated resources, including staff and funding, GAO officials said. Tribal leaders discussed additional policy considerations needed to make America a leader in ensuring burial rights and protections for its indigenous peoples. Since NAGPRA was enacted in 1990, more than 40,000 human remains, 1.1 million funerary objects, 5,500 sacred objects and 2,100 patrimonial objects were found eligible for repatriation by museums and federal agencies.

POKENUHOU V www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org NEWS BRIEFS * NATiVE HAWAiiAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENT S