By: Nehez Meniooh
In 1990, The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed. This act provides mechanisms for museums to return human remains, funeral objects and sacred objects to the Native communities where they originated. Thousands of items and human remains have been returned and reburied over the past eighteen years. For the most part, this act has been seen as a success by Natives and archaeologists alike, but as with anything, it also has created some controversy and disfavor.
The most recent and still ongoing controversy is taking place in Hawaii, where the return of some cultural treasures is causing some deep divisions within Native Hawaiian communities. Because Hawaii has no distinct tribes, “deciding whom you give the objects back to has become a major problem”, said Betty Kam, the vice president of cultural resources of Bishop Museum in Honolulu. In Hawaii, there are two organizations that have been named to whom stolen treasures may be returned: Hui Malama I Na Kapuna O Hawaii (Group Caring for Hawaiian Ancestors) and the State Office of Hawaiian Affairs; however, others could also qualify.
Continue reading NAGPRA’s Hawaiian Controversy
