Repatriation

The Office of Cultural Repatriation is responsible for representing our tribe on issues concerning the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which includes the return of ancestral remains, sacred items and items of cultural patrimony removed from our homelands, past and present.

The office also deals with present day inadvertent discovery of ancestral remains, sacred or traditional cultural properties taken from the tribe during construction projects and so forth.

Cultural Repatriation handles other applicable laws such as the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA) and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and other lesser known applicable laws.

Additionally, this office addresses the tribe’s policy concerning gravesites and their protection, working with all branches of government: tribal, federal, state and local.