Why We Repatriate: 15 Years On The Arc Of Restorative Justice At The Denver Museum Of Nature & Science

Why We Repatriate: 15 Years On The Arc Of Restorative Justice At The Denver Museum Of Nature & Science

AIA Society: Spokane
Lecturer: Stephen E. Nash

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) outlines a legal process by which federally recognize Native American tribes could reclaim their ancestors, sacred objects, and communally-owned objects from museums. At that time, many museum employees, bioarchaeologists, and archaeologists were afraid that NAGPRA constituted an existential threat to museums. In the three decades since, NAGPRA has been slow to take hold (for a variety of reasons) and only about 30% of the Native American ancestors have been repatriated. This lecture examples the repatriation movement in archaeology with a specific emphasis on the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, which is a recognized world leader in these efforts.

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