[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 43, Volume 1]

[Revised as of October 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 43CFR10.9]



[Page 234-237]

 

                    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



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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

    (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



[[Page 236]]



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 also be sent to the Manager, National NAGPRA Program. 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 Manager, National NAGPRA 

Program.

    (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 Manager, National NAGPRA Program notice of this 

result and a copy of the list of culturally unidentifiable human remains 

and associated funerary objects. The Manager, National NAGPRA Program 

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 Manager, National NAGPRA Program 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



[[Page 237]]



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; 71 

FR 16501, Apr. 3, 2006]