Frequently Asked Questions

NAGPRA requires the Peabody Museum and other museums to repatriate Native American human remains, funerary objects, objects of cultural patrimony, and sacred objects. The statute, along with subsequent administrative regulations, sets forth a detailed administrative process that museums must follow, including the inventorying of relevant holdings, communications and consultations with Indian Tribes, publication of notices in the Federal Register, and eventual transfer of human remains and cultural items to lineal descendants or Tribal Nations. Details of the statute, regulations and process is available at National NAGPRA, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. To learn more about NAGPRA please visit National NAGPRA’s training website page and their Frequently Asked Questions website page.

Most of the collections arrived at the museum during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through archaeologists, academics, and others, who sought to understand “America’s past” through large-scale excavations. Some of these efforts were supported by the Federal government, and the Antiquities Act of 1906 specifically directed that universities and public museums were the repositories for these collections. Harvard was at the center of American archaeology and among the most frequent recipients of collecting permits at that time. Therefore, the collection grew with the growth of anthropology, an academic discipline. For more information, please see NAGPRA at the Peabody.

Under NAGPRA, the number of ancestors is described by the term “minimum number of individuals” which is estimated using catalog records in the museum’s database. Determining the actual number of individuals can be challenging as different skeletal elements from the same individual may have been assigned different catalog numbers in the past. This is particularly true for individuals from complex archaeological contexts. An explanation of definitions used in the NAGPRA legislation can be found on the National Park Service NAGPRA Glossary.

The Harvard Corporation has delegated decision-making for NAGPRA to the Peabody Museum director. The NAGPRA Advisory Committee provides critical guidance to the director on all aspects of NAGPRA implementation.

Each NAGPRA request is distinct and the time to effect repatriation through the NAGPRA process varies widely. The foundation of the NAGPRA process is respectful consultation, and staff aim to be responsive and sensitive to Tribal timelines and priorities.

The Federal Register is published daily by the National Archives and Records Administration and is the “official newspaper” of the U.S. Federal Government. When a repository determines the appropriate lineal descendant or Tribal Nation culturally affiliated to the ancestors or cultural items, a Federal Register Notice is published. Ancestors and associated funerary belongings are published in a Notice of Inventory Completion, while unassociated funerary belongings, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony are published in a Notice of Intent to Repatriate. In some cases, a correction notice will be published to update information provided in the initial notice. Publication in the Federal Register is required under NAGPRA and provides an opportunity to publicly announce a repatriation decision. An explanation of definitions used in the NAGPRA legislation can be found on National Park Service NAGPRA Glossary.

Once the notice period of 30 days has ended, if no other claims have been made, the Peabody will transfer control of the items to the intended tribe(s), regardless of whether physical transfer is possible at that time. Peabody staff will continue to care for the items according to the wishes of the tribe(s) until they can be physically repatriated.

If certain facts in a published Federal Register notice change prior to the repatriation or transfer of the human remains or cultural items, the museum must draft a correction (or “amendment”) notice. Amendment notices are used to change:

• the number of human remains,
• the number of associated funerary objects,
• the number of other cultural items, or
• the cultural affiliation or aboriginal land determination.

For NAGPRA related questions, please email pmnagpra@fas.harvard.edu- this inbox is closely monitored by our NAGPRA team daily. Meet the team doing this work on Getting Started.

NAGPRA requires the Peabody Museum and other museums to repatriate culturally affiliated Native American human remains, funerary objects, objects of cultural patrimony, and sacred objects. The statute, along with subsequent administrative regulations, sets forth a detailed administrative process that museums must follow, including the inventorying of relevant holdings, communications and consultations with tribal nations, publication of notices in the Federal Register, and eventual transfer of human remains and cultural items to tribal nations. Details of the statute, regulations and process is available at National NAGPRA, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

In NAGPRA (25 USC 3005 and 43 CFR 10.10), the term repatriation means return of possession or control of Native American cultural items to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations.

Since terms including “repatriation,” may have very specific, sometimes legal, meanings we use the more generic term “return” throughout the website to cover all circumstances.

Objects that, as part of the death rite or ceremony of a culture, are reasonably believed to have been placed with individual human remains either at the time of death or later, and both the human remains and associated funerary objects are presently in the possession or control of a museum or Federal agency, except that other items exclusively made for burial purposes or to contain human remains shall be considered as associated funerary objects. [25 USC 3001 (3)(A)]

Objects that, as a part of the death rite or ceremony of a culture, are reasonably believed to have been placed with individual human remains either at the time of death or later, where the remains are not in the possession or control of the Federal agency or museum and the objects can be identified by a preponderance of the evidence as related to specific individuals or families or to known human remains or, by a preponderance of the evidence, as having been removed from a specific burial site of an individual culturally affiliated with a particular Indian tribe. [25 USC 3001 (3)(B)] Those funerary objects for which the human remains with which they were placed intentionally are not in the possession or control of a museum or Federal agency. [43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2)(ii)]

As used at 25 USC 3002 and 43 CFR Subpart B, the term refers to the return of cultural items excavated or inadvertently discovered on Federal or tribal lands after November 16, 1990, to lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations. The term disposition is also used at 25 USC 3006 (c)(5) with respect to the Review Committee's charge to recommend specific actions for developing a process for the disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains.

Specific ceremonial objects which are needed by traditional Native American religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native American religions by their present day adherents. [25 USC 3001 (3)(C)]

An object having ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an individual Native American, and which, therefore, cannot be alienated, appropriated, or conveyed by any individual regardless of whether or not the individual is a member of the Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization and such object shall have been considered inalienable by such Native American group at the time the object was separated from such group. [25 USC 3001 (3)(D)]

The phrase “minimum number of individuals” is determined using catalog records in a museum database. For archaeological collections in particular, this counting method tends to overestimate the actual number of originating individuals, as different skeletal elements from the same individual may have different catalog numbers. However, the term is widely used for its consistency in approach including in NAGPRA inventories submitted to the Department of the Interior. 

A Notice of Inventory Completion is published in the Federal Register when a museum or Federal agency has made a determination of cultural affiliation for human remains and associated funerary objects, or has determined it will transfer control of culturally unidentified human remains and associated funerary objects. Such notice is required pursuant to 25 USC 3003 (d), 43 CFR 10.9 (e), 43 CFR 10.11(d), and 43 CFR 10.13. The National NAGPRA program is responsible for publishing notices of inventory completion on behalf of museums and Federal agencies.

A Notice of Intent to Repatriate is published in the Federal Register when a museum or Federal agency receives, reviews, and accepts a claim by a tribe for sacred objects, unassociated funerary objects, or objects of cultural patrimony. Such notice is required pursuant to 43 CFR 10.8 (f). The National NAGPRA program is responsible for publishing notices of intent to repatriate on behalf of museums and Federal agencies.