ABSTRACT

Excerpted From: Emily R. Holtzman, “My Museum's Reluctant Undertakers”: Repatriation after the 2023 NAGPRA Rule, 59 Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems 99 (2025) (311 Footnotes) (Full Document)

There is a holy being at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City. Her name is t'0manwas, and she came from the sky. In her seat in the Hall of the Universe, she is more often known as Willamette Meteorite, a 15.5-ton mass of iron that is the sixth-largest meteorite in the world and the largest ever found in the United States. Her people still live in present-day Oregon, and they yearn for her to return, but she cannot go home. When the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde requested t'0manwas be repatriated as a sacred object in 1999, AMNH refused, using its authority under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) to decide she is not a sacred object and therefore not entitled to NAGPRA repatriation. AMNH said t'0manwas was “a natural feature of the landscape, rather than a specific ceremonial object” and that the repatriation claim would “potentially impair [ ] the Museum's ability to share this exceptional scientific specimen with the public.” AMNH also filed suit in federal court seeking a declaratory judgment that it was the rightful owner of t'0manwas, but the parties quickly negotiated a settlement agreement. T'0man0was's story highlights the complexity of NAGPRA determinations and the inadequacies of a system that allows museums to control Indigenous access to Indigenous culture.

Across the first floor of the museum, the Red Beaver Prow hangs in the Northwest Coast Hall. It is a replica of the prow piece once beloved by the Tlingit people of Angoon, Alaska. In 1999, tribal elder Harold Jacobs visited AMNH to review cultural items affiliated with Angoon, stumbled upon the original Red Beaver Prow by chance in a storage area, and immediately recognized it as belonging to his community. By the end of the year, it was repatriated to Angoon under NAGPRA, and half the village met it at the ferry to “celebrate[ ] its return all night long.” Through repatriation, the Red Beaver Prow was “‘brought back to life’ and [is] now fully integrated into the framework of [Angoon's Tlingit] culture.” The community has granted it status as one of the most important objects in their culture and as a leader of their tribe. Here, NAGPRA successfully provided AMNH and the Angoon villagers the means to mend past losses and develop a continuing collaborative relationship.

Upstairs at AMNH, on a high floor only accessible to staff, there are seemingly endless walls of cabinets, some of which hold Native American human remains. In October 2023, AMNH removed all human remains from public displays, recognizing “human remains collections were made possible by extreme imbalances of power,” and the return of human remains is “an integral part of stewardship.” AMNH made this decision of its own volition, reflecting NAGPRA's impact on the evolution of exhibition development and museum ethics.

In the middle, on the third floor, AMNH has closed its Hall of the Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains Hall. These closures are a reaction to the Department of the Interior's (DOI) new regulations governing NAGPRA, which DOI promulgated on December 13, 2023 (the “2023 Rule”). Any potential construction of new exhibition halls is likely to take several years and cost tens of millions of dollars, but if such halls reopen, every Native American cultural object in the museum will be displayed with the consent of its tribal community.

NAGPRA was passed to “provide for the protection of Native American graves and the repatriation of Native American remains and cultural patrimony.” It recognizes the rights of lineal descendants, Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations to cultural property in five categories: ancestral human remains, associated and unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. The 2023 Rule represents the most significant update to NAGPRA since its passage in 1990, reflecting reforms that Native Americans and collecting institutions have called upon DOI to implement for years. The community of NAGPRA practitioners has received the 2023 Rule's paradigm shift positively, albeit with some concerns about how to comply and how to fund their efforts. This concern is relatively surprising given that noncompliance with the 2023 rule carries little risk of meaningful repercussions for museums or researchers. Even if a collecting institution drags its feet, ignores reporting deadlines, or makes decisions about cultural property in bad faith, the National NAGPRA Program (“National NAGPRA”) will not investigate the institution unless it receives a written allegation of noncompliance from an outside source. Given the private nature of collections management, National NAGPRA receives few complaints and even fewer that provide enough evidence to prompt further investigation. Thus, NAGPRA, despite having a civil penalties provision, has never been robustly enforced.

This Note argues that the 2023 Rule is an essential update to NAGPRA, but it does not do enough to ensure proper enforcement and explanation of the new regulations. To push collecting institutions to devote more resources to NAGPRA and complete repatriations with greater urgency, a stronger enforcement arm, along with greater regulatory clarity and increased public attention, is required. Part I of this Note gives an overview of American museum practices that led to the passage of NAGPRA. Part II describes NAGPRA's strengths and the weaknesses that led to a call for reform. Using firsthand accounts from legal and repatriation professionals, Part III begins with a survey of the 2023 Rule, reviews several impactful reforms, and details barriers to compliance and questions that the 2023 Rule fails to address. Part IV proposes solutions to these issues, recommending DOI strengthen its enforcement of NAGPRA and exploring how greater enforcement could impact museums, federal agencies, and aggrieved parties. It also suggests National NAGPRA make certain changes to its online guidance and briefly addresses how public attention impacts NAGPRA repatriation efforts. Ultimately, this Note assesses the 2023 Rule's first year post-promulgation and demonstrates the need to hold collecting institutions to account to finally fulfill “the promise of NAGPRA.”

[. . .]

In discussing the legal minutiae of NAGPRA, it can be easy to forget its significance for the social, cultural, emotional, and religious lives of Native Americans. When NAGPRA repatriations are complete, ancestors and their possessions will be put to rest, sacred items will be properly cared for, and future generations will have access to their own cultural patrimony. Museums will not be empty, and they will have forged productive, cooperative relationships with Indigenous partners. The 2023 Rule makes great strides in drawing the NAGPRA community closer to this future, but, as it exists today, it lacks both the funding and the incentives necessary to complete its task. By expanding its enforcement capacity and proactively investigating failures to comply with the 2023 Rule, National NAGPRA can push collecting institutions to make NAGPRA an institutional priority backed by sufficient financial support, leading to full and timely compliance. With NAGPRA practitioners guided by the 2023 Rule, using all the resources available to provide dignity and respect to collections, the promise of NAGPRA may yet be fulfilled.

Exec. Managing Editor, Colum. J. L. & Soc. Probs., 2025-2026. J.D. 2026, Columbia Law School.