In May 2020, Edgerly Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay appointed a NAGPRA Advisory Committee to support the museum’s long-term commitment to the implementation of NAGPRA and the ethical and moral imperative it represents. Drawing from advice and expertise across the University, the Committee advises the Peabody Museum Director on issues and decisions in regard to the implementation of NAGPRA, as well as providing counsel to the Peabody Faculty Executive Committee and the FAS Dean. The Committee is apprised of ongoing consultations and is currently overseeing an assessment of pending transfers and evaluation and changes in museum policies such as the new policy for funerary objects associated with culturally unidentifiable remains.
2023 - 2024 Committee Membership
- Chair: Philip Deloria (Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History)
- Matthew Liebmann (Peabody Professor of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Peabody Faculty Executive Committee Chair)
- Suzanne Day (Senior Director, Harvard Federal Relations)
- Kelli Mosteller (Executive Director of Harvard University Native American Program)
- Megan Minoka Hill (Program Director, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development & Director, Honoring Nations, Harvard Kennedy School)
- Ellen Berkman at the Office of General Counsel acts as Counsel to the Committee.
Listen to HMSC Connects! Podcast with NAGPRA Advisory Committee chair Philip Deloria who recalls his childhood in South Dakota as the son of the well-known Standing Rock Sioux member and scholar Vine Deloria Jr., his circuitous journey from a career in music to academia, and the ethical issues introduced by NAGPRA.