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GAO-24-106870 1 (2023-10-10)

handle is hein.gao/gaopgq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 
























The  Big Picture                                        process is complete, the items are not available for
                                                        repatriation (see figure).


Native Americans  may  consider certain cultural items
sacred or significant and the damage or theft of these
items to be detrimental to preserving their culture and
traditions. NAGPRA  seeks  to repatriate specific
Native American  cultural items-including human
remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and
objects of cultural patrimony-by requiring federal
agencies and  museums   to (1) identify cultural items
in their possession or control; (2) identify, where
possible, the cultural affiliation between those items
and a present-day  Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization; and (3) generally repatriate culturally
affiliated items upon request to lineal descendants,
Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations
under the terms prescribed in the act (see Legal
Terms).
Since NAGPRA was enacted in 1990, federal
agencies and  museums   have reported being in
possession  of almost 3 million Native American
human  remains  and associated funerary objects,
according to the Department  of the Interior's National
NAGPRA Program. The program's 2022 report notes
that these agencies and museums   have  not
completed  the NAGPRA regulatory   process for 52
percent of human  remains and  29 percent of
associated funerary objects. For those cultural items,
the process is complete when  any necessary  tribal
consultation for possible cultural and geographical
affiliation is concluded and the human remains or
associated funerary objects have been  listed in a
completed  inventory published in the Federal
Register, according to a program official. Until the


Status of Certain Native American Cultural Items Reported
by Federal Agencies and Museums under NAGPRA
Of the 208,698 Native American
human  remains reported since 1990


For 48% the NAGPRA
process is complete


For 52% the NAGPRA
process is not complete


Of the 2,619,951 Native American associated
funerary objects reported since 1990
      For 71% the NAGPRA        For 29% the NAGPRA
      process is complete process is   not complete


Source: GAO analysis of National Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Act (NAGPRA) Program data as of September 2023. 1 GAO-24-106870

NAGPRA also prohibits   the intentional removal or
excavation of Native American  cultural items from
federal and tribal lands unless certain conditions are
met, including consultation with and-in the case of
tribal land-consent from the appropriate Indian tribe
or Native Hawaiian organization. Further, NAGPRA
criminalizes the knowing sale, purchase, use for
profit, and transport for sale or profit of Native
American  cultural items obtained in violation of the
act, among  other actions.

What   GAO's   Work  Shows
Our prior work shows  that federal agencies have
made  progress  in implementing NAGPRA.   However,
the progress has taken decades  and, as we  reported
in 2022, challenges remain.


GAO-24-106870 Native American Priorities

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