Wesleyan University working to comply with NAGPRA after 20 years

Tuesday, February 1, 2011  

Wesleyan University in Connecticut is still working to comply with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, more than 20 years after it became law.

The university completed its inventory of ancestors and funerary items in 1995. However, it failed to consult tribes, as required by Section 5 of NAGPRA, The Wesleyan Argus reported.

The university also submitted a summary of artifacts to affected tribes in 1993 but it wasn't complete, as required by Section 6 of NAGPRA.

“I found that Wesleyan had other items from almost every state,” Jan Bernstein, a NAGPRA consultant, said at a presentation on the law, the paper reported. “So they have many Native American objects that should have been recorded with the appropriate tribe.”

Bernstein said the university should be in compliance with at least a year of work.

Get the Story:
University Takes Steps to Begin Complying with NAGPRA (The Wesleyan Argus 2/1)