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Office of the President
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMIC AND STUDENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE:
DISCUSSION ITEM
For Meeting of September 26, 2018
POLICIES AND PRACTICES REGARDING TREATMENT OF NATIVE AMERICAN
REMAINS AND ARTIFACTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Six campuses currently house Native American human remains and cultural items: Berkeley,
Davis, UCLA, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. The Berkeley campus houses one of
the largest collections in the United States.
This item provides information about the University’s management and treatment of human
remains and cultural items subject to the federal and California Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Acts (NAGPRA), including the legal landscape, historical tensions
surrounding this issue, and the University’s plans to strengthen NAGPRA activities going
forward.
BACKGROUND
Legal Landscape
In 1990, the federal government enacted the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). NAGPRA requires museums and federal agencies to transfer
Native American human remains and cultural items—funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects
of cultural patrimony—to lineal descendants and culturally-affiliated, federally-recognized
Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.
In 1991, the University of California issued a systemwide Policy and Procedures on Curation and
Repatriation of Human Remains and Cultural Items (hereinafter referred to as the “UC Cultural
Repatriation Policy”), which was last substantively revised in 2001. This policy addresses the
treatment and disposition of human remains and cultural items that are in the University’s
custody, including the repatriation of these items under applicable law, including NAGPRA. The
UC Cultural Repatriation Policy states that it is the policy of the University to respect Native
American and Native Hawaiian concerns regarding the treatment and disposition of Native
American remains and cultural items. It explicitly requires campuses to consult with tribal
authorities both in preparing inventories and in responding to repatriation requests. The UC
Cultural Repatriation Policy also establishes a systemwide Advisory Group to: 1) review and