Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

A 1990 United States law requiring federally funded institutions and federal agencies to inventory and repatriate certain Indigenous human remains and cultural items to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated tribes.

NAGPRA inventories: Catalogs of Native American human remains and cultural items held by covered institutions and federal agencies. Inventories identify holdings that may be subject to repatriation under the Act.
Indian tribe: A federally recognized tribal entity eligible for certain federal programs and government-to-government relations. NAGPRA assigns Indian tribes consultation and repatriation rights.
American Indian Movement: An Indigenous rights movement founded in 1968 that organized around sovereignty, treaty rights, and social justice. Its broader activism helped bring Indigenous control over ancestral remains into public debate.
Indigenous data sovereignty: The right of Indigenous peoples to govern the collection, ownership, access, and use of data about their communities. NAGPRA’s consultation and inventory rules intersect with Indigenous authority over cultural information.
Cultural affiliation: A relationship of shared group identity between a present-day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization and an earlier group. Cultural affiliation can establish which tribe may claim an item or ancestor.
Native Hawaiian organization: An organization that serves and represents Native Hawaiians and meets statutory criteria under federal law. NAGPRA extends specified consultation and repatriation roles to these organizations.
Native American repatriation movement: Indigenous-led advocacy seeking the return of ancestors and culturally significant belongings held by institutions. NAGPRA became a major federal outcome of this organizing.
Ancestral remains repatriation: The return of human remains to descendant communities for culturally appropriate care or reburial. NAGPRA made this broader practice a federal obligation in defined cases.
NAGPRA consultation: The process through which covered institutions and agencies consult with tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations about cultural items and ancestors. Consultation informs inventories, affiliation findings, and decisions about disposition.
Lineal descendant: A person descended in a direct line from an identifiable individual, without requiring an intervening collateral relationship. A lineal descendant may claim an ancestor’s remains or associated cultural items.

Linked from 8 pages