In 1990, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was signed into law, recognizing the rights of Native Americans and Alaska Natives to reclaim their cultural heritage.

The law requires museums that receive federal funding to publish a list of their inventories of ancestors and cultural property. Tribes, individual Native Americans and Native Hawaiians can seek to have the items repatriated.

In Wisconsin, the Ho-Chunk Nation is hoping to reclaim several items from the Milwaukee Public Museum. The tribe is concerned that the debt-riddle institution might sell some of its collection. Since 1990, the museum has complied with nearly 20 repatriation requests.

The process is extremely slow-moving. Some museums are behind in their inventories and have a difficult time returning items to their rightful owners. For tribes, documenting a claim can be time consuming.

Repatriation issues also extend beyond U.S. borders, with First Nations in Canada seeking and, in some cases, reclaiming artifacts and remains. The government of Peru is trying to recover remains and items taken from the country that are now being housed at from the Yale Peabody Museum in Connecticut.

Get the Story:
Museum Collections Shrink As Tribes Reclaim Artifacts (The Washington Post 3/9)
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Peru Tries to Recover Gold From Yale's Ivory Tower (The Washington Post 3/9)

Relevant Links:
National NAGPRA - http://www.cr.nps.gov/nagpra

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