The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is one of the most important pieces of American legislation affecting Native Americans. NAGPRA provides a process by which museums and other federal agencies use to return certain Native American human remains and grave goods to lineal descendants, and culturally affiliated Native American tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, if they can be determined.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was signed into law by US President George Bush in 1990. It was created to protect cemeteries on federal and tribal lands, and to provide a way to return the human skeletal material and associated funerary objects in the nation's scientific and museum collections to culturally affiliated tribes. While NAGPRA is not a perfect document, it is the first enacted legislation of its kind, and it is the direct result of a decade of political activism at the heart of what could be termed the Native American repatriation movement.

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Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO)

Under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, (16 U.S.C. 470), historic preservation activities center on the identification and preservation of significant architectural features in a given area.

Nationally, Historic Preservation activities are administered by the National Park Service, who empowers various state offices (SHPO's) to determine what is and what is not architecturally significant in their states. Historic preservation activities on CPN lands are currently overseen by the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) in Oklahoma City.

On our tribal lands, this is obviously unacceptable, given the nature of tribal sovereignty. It is the CPN's position that decisions regarding historical significance in the Nation’s homeland in central Oklahoma rightfully rest with the CPN, especially on its original lands purchased by the Nation in the 1870's.

Congress did, however, make provisions for tribes to designate Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPO's) to undertake the same duties on tribal lands (36 CFR 61). The CPN has made it clear to the NPS that it intends to undertake the duties and responsibilities delineated in the law and will identify for itself what is and what is not architecturally significant on its own tribal land.

At the present time, Jeremy Finch has been designated the CPN's Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and the Nation has filed its application for THPO status with the NPS. That application is currently pending.

Please watch this page for updates.