The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) requires federally funded institutions and museums to consult with lineal descendants, federally recognized Native American tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations in order to return Native American cultural items – human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony.
The School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University houses and cares for Native American ancestors, belongings and cultural items, disturbed from ancestral sites in Arizona and New Mexico. These ancestors, belongings and cultural items were brought to Arizona State University via archaeological field schools, cultural resource law compliance and donations.
The NAGPRA Program in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change has the full support of ASU's Office of Government & Community Engagement and the administration. It is the desire and objective of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change that ancestral remains and cultural items will be returned to the appropriate tribal communities.
Read more about our work with community and tribal partners:
ASU works with tribal representatives to fulfill Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act