UC Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Policy Requirements
Dear Colleagues,
As a reminder, the UC Office of the President (UCOP) updated the Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Policy on December 17, 2021. The update was made to the policy to increase accountability and transparency across all UC campuses and to increase and achieve repatriation, in compliance with the Federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the California NAGPRA (CalNAGPRA). NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA address the rights of Native American and Native Hawaiian tribes and lineal descendants to repatriation of ancestral human remains and certain cultural items (funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony).
As the Chancellor’s Designee under the UC Policy, I am responsible for campus oversight, compliance, and decision-making associated with this policy, NAGPRA, and CalNAGPRA. Megon Noble, Senior Strategic Advisor, serves as the Campus Repatriation Coordinator under the policy and has been delegated authority to implement the policy.
I write to raise awareness of the policy’s requirements, to affirm UC Davis’s commitment to these laws and to the guiding principles and procedures of the UC policy, and to enlist your assistance ensuring the campus fully complies with this important human rights and cultural heritage effort. In addition, provided below are procedures to report Native American and Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items. In particular, note that the policy:
As a reminder, the UC Office of the President (UCOP) updated the Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Policy on December 17, 2021. The update was made to the policy to increase accountability and transparency across all UC campuses and to increase and achieve repatriation, in compliance with the Federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the California NAGPRA (CalNAGPRA). NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA address the rights of Native American and Native Hawaiian tribes and lineal descendants to repatriation of ancestral human remains and certain cultural items (funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony).
As the Chancellor’s Designee under the UC Policy, I am responsible for campus oversight, compliance, and decision-making associated with this policy, NAGPRA, and CalNAGPRA. Megon Noble, Senior Strategic Advisor, serves as the Campus Repatriation Coordinator under the policy and has been delegated authority to implement the policy.
I write to raise awareness of the policy’s requirements, to affirm UC Davis’s commitment to these laws and to the guiding principles and procedures of the UC policy, and to enlist your assistance ensuring the campus fully complies with this important human rights and cultural heritage effort. In addition, provided below are procedures to report Native American and Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items. In particular, note that the policy:
- Articulates the repatriation of Native American and Native Hawaiian human remains as a fundamental objective and value of the university.
- Requires campuses to proactively review existing collections, including all collections that contain Native American archaeological or ethnographic objects or other holdings that may potentially contain Native American or Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items.
- Prohibits the use of Native American or Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items in research or instructional activities without tribal and university approval.
- Requires the university to consult with tribes regarding traditional practices for the care of ancestral human remains and cultural items.
- Provides procedures for tribes to file appeals or complaints if they disagree with campus actions or decisions under the policy.
- Provides a procedure for members of the campus community to report Native American or Native Hawaiian human remains and cultural items that they believe are not being properly maintained or properly reported.
- Requires each campus to perform a review of all departments and units historically engaged in studies with human remains or cultural items and all departments or units identified by department deans, chairs, or unit heads as potentially holding Native American or Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items, in order to identify previously unreported human remains or cultural items.
For additional information regarding UC Davis’s NAGPRA compliance efforts, please visit nagpra.ucdavis.edu. Please contact UC Davis Repatriation Coordinator Megon Noble at mnoble@ucdavis.edu or 530-752-8501 with any questions regarding the policy. If you believe you or others may hold Native American or Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items that have not previously been reported, please contact Megon directly.
We appreciate your attention and full cooperation with this important policy.
All the best,
Mary
Mary Croughan
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
We appreciate your attention and full cooperation with this important policy.
All the best,
Mary
Mary Croughan
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor