[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 43, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 43CFR10.9]

[Page 228-230]
 
                    TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
 
PART 10_NATIVE AMERICAN GRAVES PROTECTION AND REPATRIATION REGULATIONS
--Table of Contents
 
Subpart C_Human Remains, Funerary Objects, Sacred Objects, or Objects of 
          Cultural Patrimony in Museums and Federal Collections
 
Sec. 10.9  Inventories.

    (a) General. This section carries out section 5 of the Act. Under 
section 5 of the Act, each museum or Federal agency that has possession 
or control over holdings or collections of human remains and associated 
funerary objects must compile an inventory of such objects, and, to the 
fullest extent possible based on information possessed by the museum or 
Federal agency, must identify the geographical and cultural affiliation 
of each item. The purpose of the inventory is to facilitate repatriation 
by providing clear descriptions of human remains and associated funerary 
objects and establishing the cultural affiliation between these objects 
and present-day Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. Museums 
and Federal agencies are encouraged to produce inventories first on 
those portions of their collections for which information is readily 
available or about which Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations 
have expressed special interest. Early focus on these parts of 
collections will result in determinations that may serve as models for 
other inventories. Federal agencies must ensure that these requirements 
are met for all collections from their lands or generated by their 
actions whether the collections are held by the Federal agency or by a 
non-Federal institution.
    (b) Consultation--(1) Consulting parties. Museum and Federal agency 
officials must consult with:
    (i) Lineal descendants of individuals whose remains and associated 
funerary objects are likely to be subject to the inventory provisions of 
these regulations; and
    (ii) Indian tribe officials and traditional religious leaders:
    (A) From whose tribal lands the human remains and associated 
funerary objects originated;
    (B) That are, or are likely to be, culturally affiliated with human 
remains and associated funerary objects; and
    (C) From whose aboriginal lands the human remains and associated 
funerary objects originated.
    (2) Initiation of consultation. Museum and Federal agency officials 
must begin inventory consultation as early as possible, no later in the 
inventory process than the time at which investigation into the cultural 
affiliation of human remains and associated funerary objects is being 
conducted. Consultation may be initiated with a letter, but should be 
followed up by telephone or face-to-face dialogue.
    (3) Provision of information. During inventory consultation, museums 
and Federal agency officials must provide the following information in 
writing to lineal descendants, when known, and to officials and 
traditional religious leaders representing Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations that are, or are likely to be, culturally 
affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary objects.
    (i) A list of all Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations 
that are, or have been, consulted regarding the particular human remains 
and associated funerary objects;
    (ii) A general description of the conduct of the inventory;
    (iii) The projected time frame for conducting the inventory; and
    (iv) An indication that additional documentation used to identify 
cultural affiliation will be supplied upon request.
    (4) Requests for information. During the inventory consultation, 
museum and Federal agency officials must request, as appropriate, the 
following information from Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations that are, or are likely to be, culturally affiliated with 
their collections:
    (i) Name and address of the Indian tribe official to act as 
representative in consultations related to particular human remains and 
associated funerary objects;
    (ii) Recommendations on how the consultation process should be 
conducted, including:
    (A) Names and appropriate methods to contact any lineal descendants 
of individuals whose remains and associated funerary objects are or are 
likely to be included in the inventory; and

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    (B) Names and appropriate methods to contact traditional religious 
leaders who should be consulted regarding the human remains and 
associated funerary objects.
    (iii) Kinds of objects that the Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization reasonably believes to have been made exclusively for 
burial purposes or to contain human remains of their ancestors.
    (c) Required information. The following documentation must be 
included, if available, for all inventories completed by museum or 
Federal agency officials:
    (1) Accession and catalogue entries, including the accession/
catalogue entries of human remains with which funerary objects were 
associated;
    (2) Information related to the acquisition of each object, 
including:
    (i) The name of the person or organization from whom the object was 
obtained, if known;
    (ii) The date of acquisition,
    (iii) The place each object was acquired, i.e., name or number of 
site, county, State, and Federal agency administrative unit, if 
applicable; and
    (iv) The means of acquisition, i.e., gift, purchase, or excavation;
    (3) A description of each set of human remains or associated 
funerary object, including dimensions, materials, and, if appropriate, 
photographic documentation, and the antiquity of such human remains or 
associated funerary objects, if known;
    (4) A summary of the evidence, including the results of 
consultation, used to determine the cultural affiliation of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects pursuant to Sec. 10.14 of these 
regulations.
    (d) Documents. Two separate documents comprise the inventory:
    (1) A listing of all human remains and associated funerary objects 
that are identified as being culturally affiliated with one or more 
present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The list 
must indicate for each item or set of items whether cultural affiliation 
is clearly determined or likely based upon the preponderance of the 
evidence; and
    (2) A listing of all culturally unidentifiable human remains and 
associated funerary objects for which no culturally affiliated present-
day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization can be determined.
    (e) Notification. (1) If the inventory results in the identification 
or likely identification of the cultural affiliation of any particular 
human remains or associated funerary objects with one or more Indian 
tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, the museum or Federal agency, 
not later than six (6) months after completion of the inventory, must 
send such Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations the inventory 
of culturally affiliated human remains and associated funerary objects, 
including all information required under Sec. 10.9 (c), and a notice of 
inventory completion that summarizes the results of the inventory.
    (2) The notice of inventory completion must summarize the contents 
of the inventory in sufficient detail so as to enable the recipients to 
determine their interest in claiming the inventoried items. It must 
identify each particular set of human remains or each associated 
funerary object and the circumstances surrounding its acquisition, 
describe the human remains or associated funerary objects that are 
clearly identifiable as to cultural affiliation, and describe the human 
remains and associated funerary objects that are not clearly 
identifiable as being culturally affiliated with an Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization, but which, given the totality of 
circumstances surrounding acquisition of the human remains or associated 
objects, are identified as likely to be culturally affiliated with a 
particular Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
    (3) If the inventory results in a determination that the human 
remains are of an identifiable individual, the museum or Federal agency 
official must convey this information to the lineal descendant of the 
deceased individual, if known, and to the Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization of which the deceased individual was culturally 
affiliated.
    (4) The notice of inventory completion and a copy of the inventory 
must

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also be sent to the Departmental Consulting Archeologist. These 
submissions should be sent in both printed hard copy and electronic 
formats. Information on the proper format for electronic submission and 
suggested alternatives for museums and Federal agencies unable to meet 
these requirements are available from the Departmental Consulting 
Archeologist.
    (5) Upon request by an Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization 
that has received or should have received a notice of inventory 
completion and a copy of the inventory as described above, a museum or 
Federal agency must supply additional available documentation to 
supplement the information provided with the notice. For these purposes, 
the term documentation means a summary of existing museum or Federal 
agency records including inventories or catalogues, relevant studies, or 
other pertinent data for the limited purpose of determining the 
geographical origin, cultural affiliation, and basic facts surrounding 
the acquisition and accession of human remains and associated funerary 
objects.
    (6) If the museum or Federal agency official determines that the 
museum or Federal agency has possession of or control over human remains 
that cannot be identified as affiliated with a particular individual, 
Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, the museum or Federal 
agency must provide the Department Consulting Archeologist notice of 
this result and a copy of the list of culturally unidentifiable human 
remains and associated funerary objects. The Departmental Consulting 
Archeologist must make this information available to members of the 
Review Committee. Section 10.11 of these regulations will set forth 
procedures for disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains of 
Native American origin. Museums or Federal agencies must retain 
possession of such human remains pending promulgation of Sec. 10.11 
unless legally required to do otherwise, or recommended to do otherwise 
by the Secretary. Recommendations regarding the disposition of 
culturally unidentifiable human remains may be requested prior to final 
promulgation of Sec. 10.11.
    (7) The Departmental Consulting Archeologist must publish notices of 
inventory completion received from museums and Federal agencies in the 
Federal Register.
    (f) Completion. Inventories must be completed not later than 
November 16, 1995. Any museum that has made a good faith effort to 
complete its inventory, but which will be unable to complete the process 
by this deadline, may request an extension of the time requirements from 
the Secretary. An indication of good faith efforts must include, but not 
necessarily be limited to, the initiation of active consultation and 
documentation regarding the collections and the development of a written 
plan to carry out the inventory process. Minimum components of an 
inventory plan are: a definition of the steps required; the position 
titles of the persons responsible for each step; a schedule for carrying 
out the plan; and a proposal to obtain the requisite funding.

[60 FR 62158, Dec. 4, 1995, as amended at 62 FR 41293, Aug. 1, 1997]