Repatriation and NAGPRA Compliance

Arizona State Museum's (ASM) Repatriation Office manages one of the most active repatriation programs in the country, complying with federal law (NAGPRA) and administering the statutes pertaining to human remains and associated objects encountered on state and private land in Arizona (A.R.S. § 41-844 and § 41-865, respectively). ASM’s engagement in repatriation pre-dates the enactment of either federal or state statutes, with examples in 1986, 1987, and early 1990 where a total of 53 ancestral remains, 100 funerary belongings, and 5 objects of cultural patrimony were returned to their descendant communities. 

Since the passing of NAGPRA on November 16, 1990, ASM has been active in repatriation, working to return applicable collections under the legal control of the institution and of federal agencies with holdings at ASM.

NAGPRA repatriation* progress 1990 to current:

• 130 Federal Register Notices Published
• 80 Repatriations Completed
• 18 Native Nations
• 3,909 Sets Human Remains
• 73,761 Funerary Objects
• 11 Sacred Objects (SO)
• 219 Objects of Cultural Patrimony (OCP)
• 110 Items considered both SOs and OCPs

*Signifies the transfer of legal control from ASM and federal agencies to affiliated tribes. 

Outside of NAGPRA, ASM facilitated the return of 28 individuals to their appropriate descendant communities with historical ties to Tucson. 

All remaining ancestral remains and cultural belongings in ASM’s care have been reported to National NAGPRA and to potentially culturally affiliated tribes. ASM, in consultation with Tribal communities, is working actively to prepare these remaining individuals and cultural items for repatriation at a pace that is manageable for the receiving communities. Consultation for the remaining NAGPRA-eligible collections in our care will be carried out by region through 2026 (see map), and we anticipate that transfer of control for these collections will be completed by 2027.

Byron Cummings, Arizona State Museum's first director, conducted the state's first repatriation in the 1930s. Since then, ASM has worked with tribal colleagues on issues of disturbance, recovery, documentation, respectful treatment, and return of human remains and associated funerary items. The United States Congress enacted the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in November 1990, following a summer of testimony taken from stakeholders, including that of then-ASM Director Raymond H. Thompson (1964-97), who had been asked by the American Association (now Alliance) of Museums to represent the country's major institutions. Current ASM Director Patrick D. Lyons (2013- ) served on the national NAGPRA Review Committee from 2016 to 2020, a group charged with monitoring and reviewing repatriation activities across the country.