(SitNews) - The Native Lands & Resources Department of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Central Council) announced that it has secured a FY2011 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Consultation/Documentation Grant in the amount of $90,000 from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

The grant will be used to conduct research and documentation, and to prepare claims to repatriate and/or work on outstanding claims at the Oakland Art Museum and the Southwest Museum Autry Center. In addition, it will allow Central Council's NAGPRA program to monitor the completion of pending claims on more than 200 objects in nine museums.  

NAGPRA was enacted in 1990 and requires museums and federal agencies to inventory and identify American Indian human remains and cultural items in their collections. This repatriation process helps to ensure the return of certain Native American cultural items (human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony) to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations.

Central Council's NAGPRA program provides for the protection and repatriation of Native American graves and artifacts. Services include submitting claims to museums for the return of cultural objects, assisting tribes and individuals in identifying cultural objects, researching family trees, maintaining the memorial calendar, and clan identification.

Source of News: 

Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
ccthita.org

SitNews ©2011
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources.