by Eva Sclippa
Last Updated Feb 3, 2025
25 views this year
The Repatriation Project (ProPublica)
The Repatriation Project (ProPublica)The remains of more than 100,000 Native Americans are held by prestigious U.S. institutions, despite a 1990 law meant to return them to tribal nations. Here’s how the ancestors were stolen — and how tribes are working to get them back.
The Repatriation Project Database (ProPublica)This tool presents a dataset maintained by the National Park Service containing all the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects that institutions have reported to the federal government under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The dataset includes information about the state and county where remains and objects were taken from, which institutions hold them and whether they have been made available for return to tribes. The data is self-reported by institutions.
See also:
Inventories of Human Remains: NAGPRA (NPS)For holdings or collections subject to NAGPRA, inventories of human remains must be submitted by museums and Federal agencies. This table is an abstract of NAGPRA inventories showing the minimum number of individuals (MNI) and the number of associated funerary objects (AFO) that have not completed the NAGPRA process (i.e. still pending consultation and/or public notice prior to repatriation).
Summaries of Cultural Items: NAGPRA (NPS)A NAGPRA Summary is a general description of Native American unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony in a holding or collection of a museum or Federal agency. A NAGPRA summary is an invitation to Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to consult.
Trafficking Culture EncyclopediaThis Encyclopedia constitutes a preliminary source of case studies that reveal aspects of the transnational illicit trade in cultural objects.
Cultural Property ProtectionUnited States State Department, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Links to U.S. and international laws affecting issues of national cultural heritage.
Underwater Cultural Heritage (Oxford Bibliographies - International Law)As a legal concept, underwater cultural heritage (UCH) covers all traces of human existence—sites, structures, wrecks and their cargo, artifacts, prehistoric objects, etc.—having a cultural, historical, or archaeological character that are or have been underwater.
Cultural Rights (Oxford Bibliographies - International Law)Cultural rights are often called the “Cinderella of human rights,” since they have not been explored in depth either by international human rights bodies or in the academic literature. Although specific issues such as minority practices have recently attracted the attention of international lawyers, and theoretical approaches relating to cultural rights have featured prominently in discussions within political theory, international law is still lacking a comprehensive discussion of cultural rights.
Organizations
Trafficking CultureTrafficking Culture is a research consortium that produces evidence-based research into the contemporary global trade in looted cultural objects.
International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR)“IFAR works at the intersection of the scholarly, legal, collecting and museum worlds. Its research, information gathering and reporting cross many lines and serve many constituencies, all in the service of integrity in the visual arts.”
Nazi Looted Art and Assets: Records on the Post-World War II Restitution ProcessThis link opens in a new windowFocuses on the diplomatic, legal and political maneuvering during and after World War II regarding German art looting in Europe, recovery of cultural objects dispersed during World War II, efforts by the U.S. and other Allied Powers to prevent the secreting of Axis assets, claims from victims for financial or property restitution from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), and other claims case.