Conflict Over Native American Bones and Artifacts



Indian Burial

     Conflict over historical artifacts' possession by museums or federal agencies is prevalent whenever an archaeologist wishes to study his findings. Conflict There has been the same type of conflict over Native American artifacts in the U.S. Historians want to keep excavating ancient burial grounds to study the different Indians' cultures and today's Native Americans and some non-Native Americans want the excavations to stop because they believe that it is destroying Native American culture. After much argument between historians, congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) to settle the conflict. Congress also provided for the artifacts at the Smithsonian Institution to be repatriated or returned home. NAGPRA also made it against the law to buy or sell Native American Artifacts. Newberry.org says that the buyer or seller must have a permit and "permission from the party who has the right to dispose of the items" to be in possession of their artifacts.  I believe that the unburying of Native American artifacts and bones can be both positive and negative for archaeologists and native Americans.

Safely Collecting Indian Artifacts

     There are positive ways that both Native Americans and archaeologists benefit from the unburying of bones and artifacts. Historians are able to find out details about the oldest culture in the United States. NAGPRA  affected the negatively because they were not able to do any further study of the bones and artifacts. Clement W. Meignat said "In my view, archaeologists have a responsibility to the people they study." He is saying that the study of Native American bones and artifacts can also benefit Native Americans because it keeps their past culture alive. Without the study of bones, Native Americans can begin to lose touch with their culture and knowledge about it. Clement W. Meignat also said the reburying bones is "the equivalent of the historian burning documents after he studies them." Thousands of dollars had gone down the drain for archaeologists after NAGPRA was passed and they were forced to return their artifacts back to their original resting place.

Indians of the Midwest

     The unburying of artifacts and bones in the U.S. also has a negative effect for Native Americans. Many native Americans feel like their past and their culture is being violated when their burial grounds are excavated. Many people that were not native Americans felt the same way about the excavations. Rather that believing that the archaeologists were unburying bones and artifacts to study to get a better grasp on past cultures, some people agreed with the Native Americans in that culture was being destroyed rather than extended. The unburying of bones was very offensive to most Native Americans. After NAGPRA was passed, many modern day tribes had very specific ways the their artifacts and bones were to be reburied. All of the artifacts and bones had to be covered in
red flannel and were not allowed to be touched by certain people or they would be considered contaminated. The unburying of bones also had a negative effect because after the problem seemed to be fixed when NAGPRA was passed, some federal agencies did not follow NAGPRA and didn't rebury the artifacts that they obtained. For the most part though, NAGPRA got rid of mostly all of the conflict between archaeologists and Native Americans.


Sources:

Indians of the Midwest
This website gave me good information about the history of NAGPRA and told me what it meant. The article also mentioned some of the main points of the conflict over repatriation and the possession of Native American artifacts. Knowing the main points helped me to form an opinion of my own.

Safely Collecting Indian Artifacts
This website gave me information on the trade of Indian artifacts and some of the laws against it and punishments for breaking these laws. It also explained "pot hunting". This source didn't help me that much with my argument but it did allow me to get a better grip on the situation and conflict.

Debating NAGPRA's Effects
This website was very helpful to my argument because it gave me the opinion of an archaeologist against NAGPRA as well as explaining NAGPRA and why it was put into place. This was probably the most useful website that I used for research.

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
I did not use much information from this website. I got one quote about some of the requirements of NAGPRA and found out that some federal agencies have not completely followed NAGPRA. this website had more information about federal agencies' roles in NAGPRA rather than peoples' opinions about it.