The Office of the Secretary of the Interior is soliciting comments from museums, Native American tribes and the public on a proposed rule regarding culturally unidentifiable human remains in the possession or control of museums and federal agencies, as part of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA). AAM is gathering feedback from the field on the proposal, which will help determine whether and how we submit comments in response.

The proposed rule specifies that any museum or federal agency with holdings of culturally unidentifiable human remains that cannot now be affiliated with a specific Native culture and to which it cannot prove it has right of possession must offer to transfer control of the remains to Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. ("Right of possession'' indicates that the remains were obtained with the voluntary consent of an individual or group that had authority to give them away.) It also establishes an order of priority for identifying the appropriate recipient.

While acknowledging that funerary objects associated with culturally unidentifiable human remains are not covered by NAPGRA, the proposed rule also recommends that museums and federal agencies transfer all such objects to an appropriate Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian group unless prohibited by law to do so.

NAGPRA, signed into law in 1990, addresses the rights of Native Americans and provides a process for museums and federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items—human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony—to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. The original regulations did not address the disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains.

Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted until Jan. 14. Please send a copy of your comments to AAM at egoldspiel@aam-us.org. For more information, review the National Park Service's NAGPRA Resources for Museums.—Eileen Goldspiel

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