Law | Opinion

Chip Colwell: Change NAGPRA and put an end to repatriation wars

Monday, May 16, 2016

The remains of the Kennewick Man were found at this site along the Columbia River in Washington. The land was part of the reservation of the Umatilla Tribes until it was ceded by treaty. Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

In 2004, a federal appeals court said the the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act does not apply to the remains of ancient ancestors like the Kennewick Man. Chip Colwell, the author of the forthcoming Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America's Culture, calls on Congress to add two words to the law to ensure that tribes can reclaim their own people:

It is the right thing to honor the wishes of the Ancient One's descendants, and allow them to rebury their ancestors with respect and dignity. However, a law directed at one set of remains offers a small bandage to a deep hemorrhage; it is just a matter of time before another ancient skeleton is found. And then we will again suffer through years of unnecessary antagonism between Native Americans and archaeologists, who have far more to gain by working together than by fighting each other.
The best way to avoid future conflicts is to allow NAGPRA to do its work. This would require the smallest of amendments to the law — simply adding two words, "or was," to NAGPRA's definition of Native American. With the broad support of both scientific organizations and tribes, several times Congress has come close, but always failed, to making this necessary adjustment.
The story of the Ancient One appears close to a conclusion. But until Congress fixes NAGPRA, the repatriation wars will continue without end.

Get the Story:
Chip Colwell: How should the Ancient One's story end? (The Denver Post 5/15)

Also Today:
Scientists, bureaucrats and Indians fight over prehistoric Kennewick Man (The Coeur d'Alene Press 5/15)

9th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision:
Bonnichsen v US (February 4, 2004)