Request for the United States to Implement and Comply with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

Res #:	Committee:	Submitted by:	Title:                                    Pass →	Yes	No	Amended/Tabled	To NCAI
18-50	Off the Floor	Salish Kootenai	Request for the United States to Implement and Comply with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act	X			YES

 2018 Annual Convention

Worley, Idaho

RESOLUTION #18 – 50 

“REQUEST FOR THE UNITED STATES TO IMPLEMENT AND COMPLY WITH THE NATIVE AMERICAN GRAVES PROTECTION AND REPATRIATION ACT” 

PREAMBLE 

We, the members of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants rights secured under Indian Treaties, Executive Orders, and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and constitution of the United States and several states, to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise to promote the welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution: 

WHEREAS, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) are representatives of and advocates for national, regional, and specific tribal concerns; and 

WHEREAS, ATNI is a regional organization comprised of American Indians/Alaska Natives and tribes in the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Northern California, and Alaska; and 

WHEREAS, the health, safety, welfare, education, economic and employment opportunity, and preservation of cultural and natural resources are primary goals and objectives 

of the ATNI; and 

WHEREAS, the terms of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3001, et seq. and implementing regulations promulgated at 43 C.F.R. 10 et seq. were enacted to protect Native American graves and to protect and repatriate cultural items of Native Americans; and 

WHEREAS, for purposes of NAGPRA, cultural items includes human remains, associated funerary objects, unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony; and

WHEREAS, cultural items of Indian tribes have ongoing historic, traditional, and cultural importance to the Indian tribes culture; and 

WHEREAS, affiliated cultural items of Indian tribes are important pieces of their people’s identity, living culture, and heritage; and 

WHEREAS, cultural items are central to the ongoing history, culture, and traditions of tribes and their communities depend upon them for maintaining their identity now and into the future; and 

WHEREAS, the terms of NAGPRA and its implementing regulations requires that cultural items, that are excavated or discovered on Federal or tribal lands, be returned to lineal descendants, and in the case of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony, the Indian tribe on whose lands they were discovered and who has the closest cultural affiliation with such remains or objects; and 

WHEREAS, very few sacred objects or objects of cultural patrimony have been returned to Tribes as required by NAGPRA; now 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, ATNI hereby calls upon the United States and its agencies to utilize and comply with NAGPRA as it was intended; to reunite Tribes with all cultural items, and not just human remains and funerary objects; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that ATNI supports all Tribes in reuniting their people with their cultural items so that their history, heritage, culture, traditions, and identity can be maintained now and into the future. 

CERTIFICATION 

The foregoing resolution was adopted at the 2018 Annual Convention of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, held at the Coeur D’Alene Casino Resort Hotel – Worley, Idaho, on September 17-20, 2018, with a quorum present.