{"id":111255,"date":"2025-01-30T17:54:25","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T23:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=111255"},"modified":"2025-01-30T17:54:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T23:54:27","slug":"cronkite-news-arizona-governor-promises-7-million-for-nagpra-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/01\/30\/cronkite-news-arizona-governor-promises-7-million-for-nagpra-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Arizona governor promises $7 million for NAGPRA work"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Katie<\/a>
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced efforts to fund repatriation at Tribal State of the State Address in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 15, 2025. Photo courtesy of January Thomas \/ Arizona Governor\u2019s Office<\/figcaption>\r\n
\u2018Take repatriation seriously\u2019: Hobbs pledges $7M to speed state museum\u2019s work to return ancestors, artifacts to Arizona tribes<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, January 30, 2025<\/div>\r\n
By Mackenzie Miller, Matthew Bird and Justin Patton<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at ASU<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nPHOENIX \u2013 The mood at the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona in Tucson last Wednesday was shock.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe museum\u2019s staff, who facilitate the repatriation of Native American human remains and artifacts to Indigenous tribes, learned that Gov. Katie Hobbs was seeking $7 million to aid their efforts.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThat mood quickly shifted to excitement.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cIf that money comes to us \u2026 that will allow us to move forward,\u201d said James Watson, the museum\u2019s associate director who oversees repatriation work.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nArizona State Museum, or ASM, houses the state\u2019s largest collection of human remains eligible for repatriation to tribes under federal law, but for years has been seeking more staff and more space for the work.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nSpeaking at her annual Tribal State of the State address on January 15, Hobbs told representatives of Arizona\u2019s 22 federally recognized tribes that her budget request will speed up ASM\u2019s efforts.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cThe hardworking staff at the museum have done their best to repatriate human remains and artifacts to tribes without any significant financial investment from the state,\u201d Hobbs said. \u201cIt is time for that to change. It is time for the state to take repatriation seriously.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 requires museums and other institutions to identify human remains and cultural artifacts in their collections and make them available to tribes for repatriation.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nHowever, an investigation last year by Cronkite News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found that ASM had failed to meet the repatriation timeline<\/a> set out in the law, in part because the university system had not adequately funded the work, or provided enough space for the time-consuming process of identifying human remains and artifacts.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe governor\u2019s office said the investigation by Cronkite News and the Howard Center helped bring Hobbs\u2019 attention to this issue.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cThe reporting has undoubtedly helped to shine a light on these important issues,\u201d said Liliana Soto, the governor\u2019s press secretary.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nASM had previously said that completing the repatriation of ancestors and artifacts in its collections would take until 2030. However, in a phone call with the Howard Center this month, Watson said more money would allow the museum to hire additional, necessary staff, and could shorten the museum\u2019s repatriation timeline by at least two years.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cWe can hire more people to work on repatriation and help associate projects, but that doesn\u2019t solve the issue that we have with space,\u201d Watson said. \u201c[The funding] could certainly help us attain our goals sooner, and I think that\u2019s what\u2019s most important.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAs of April 2024, ASM previously made available about half of the human remains in their collection for repatriation.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe governor\u2019s office said Hobbs is committed to addressing the challenges faced by ASM and helping them to become compliant with NAGPRA.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cGov. Hobbs recognizes how critical this allocation is for ASM, the state\u2019s archeological repository, as they have faced funding shortages that have delayed repatriation efforts,\u201d Soto said.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nLawmakers are set to vote on the budget by the end of June. If passed, the funds could come as soon as July 1.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nCronkite News and the Howard Center also investigated repatriation efforts at Arizona State University<\/a>, which holds the state\u2019s second largest collection of remains and artifacts, and found the university also faced staffing and space crunches that impeded repatriation.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe June 2024 report revealed that since NAGPRA\u2019s enactment in 1990, ASU had made available to tribes fewer than 2% of its collection of items. That rate put ASU in the bottom quarter of institutions nationally.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nA spokesperson for Hobbs did not answer a question about whether the governor would request additional funding to speed repatriation efforts at ASU.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nLast Friday, Cronkite News and the Howard Center asked ASU for comment about its recent repatriation work. The university did not provide any updates.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAn ASU spokesman, however, walked back statements appearing last week in a report from Capitol Media Services suggesting ASU disputed the 2% figure from the Cronkite News\/Howard Center investigation. ASU officials had confirmed the same figure to Cronkite News and the Howard Center in June.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nOn Friday, when asked about what was in dispute, an ASU spokesman said his office had contributed to a misunderstanding about the matter.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nFor more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>. It is published via a Creative Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM>
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