Repatriation (NAGPRA)

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The question of what is "repatriation", NAGPRA, their importance, and the controversy surrounding the topics each brought into action for Native Americans and Hawaiians, is one that helps discern inherent rights. While reading up on the topic, turbulent thoughts as to how so many could have ignorantly dismissed the rights of any culture repeatedly were present in my perspective of the given situations. Legal battles fought throughout history concerning the rights of a given people are usually flawed in judgment and the repatriation act with added variants, is an example of a just decision seldom scene. The repatriation act is defined as to bring or send back a people (prisoner of war, a refugee, etc.), profits or other assets to his or her country or land of citizenship (Dictionary definitions for re-pa-tri-ate, n.d.). Its importance to the Native American Community is in how the repatriation act can be used to return lost/stolen Native American cultural artifacts, remnants and even the bones of the deceased. What makes this so controversial is how it applies towards artifacts integral to Native American religious, ceremonial and burial purposes being stolen over the years and being displayed by both personal and public collectors without permission. Many Native…show more content…
NAGPRA provides a process for museums and Federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items (human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony)to lineal descendants, and culturally affiliated Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations (Charles Kappler (Ed.),2015). NAGPRA proved to be the redefining moment as to how personal and public would treat Native American artifacts, with it help many Tribes and personnel have had what was inherently theirs from the start finally
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