The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is a federal law that was enacted in 1990. It provides a process for museums and federal agencies to return Native American human remains and cultural items to lineal descendants, federally recognized Native American tribes, and Native Hawaiian Organizations in a process called repatriation. More information can be found at the National Park Service Website.

All federal agencies are subject to NAGPRA. All public and private museums that have received federal funds, other than the Smithsonian Institution, are also subject to NAGPRA.

An item is subject to repatriation if it can be reasonably identified as one of the following types of materials. The definitions provided here are paraphrased from official language available at 43 CFR 10.2.

• Human Remains: Any physical part of the body of a Native American individual.
  
  
• Funerary Object: Any object reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near human remains. A funerary object is any object connected, either at the time of death or later, to a death rite or ceremony of a Native American culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a lineal descendant or federally recognized tribe.
  
  
• Sacred Object: A specific ceremonial object needed by a traditional religious leader for present-day adherents to practice traditional Native American religion, according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a lineal descendant or federally recognized tribe. The term is specifically limited to an object needed for the observance or renewal of a Native American religious ceremony.
  
  
• Object of Cultural Patrimony: An object that has ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to a Native American group, including any constituent sub-group, according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a federally recognized tribe. The object must be reasonably identified as being of such importance central to the group that it 1) cannot or could not be alienated, appropriated, or conveyed by any person, regardless of whether the person is a member of the group, and 2) must have been considered inalienable by the group at the time the object was separated from the group.

The ADAH’s archaeological collections consist of more than 326,000 objects from more than 150 archaeological sites. Nearly all the materials were excavated in the first half of the twentieth century and donated to the ADAH by members of the Alabama Anthropological Society (AAS), an organization of archaeology enthusiasts that was active between 1909 and the 1940s. The goals of the AAS included researching and documenting Native American sites throughout the state and securing a collection of artifacts for exhibition and research at the ADAH. The ADAH’s first and third directors, Thomas M. Owen and Peter Brannon, were members of the AAS and facilitated the transfer of materials to the state agency, where they were the subjects of scholarly research and exhibition for generations.

During Phase 1 of the ADAH’s consultation and repatriation work between 2022 and 2025, the agency repatriated 115 sets of human remains and 4,683 associated funerary objects to federally recognized tribes.

In Phase 2 of the project, the ADAH will make available for consultation more than 321,000 Native American items. More than half of these materials are documented to be unassociated funerary objects and subject to repatriation. Additional evaluation and consultation are required to determine the status of the balance of the collection.

Determination of which tribal nations are eligible to claim the materials is made through consultation between the ADAH and federally recognized tribes in a process regulated by NAGPRA. When determining cultural affiliation, participants consider criteria such as geographic location, distinctive syles in material culture, and distinctive burial practices. After cultural affiliation is determined and reported publicy in the Federal Register, a lineal descendant or culturally affiliated tribe may file a claim for repatriation of the materials.

In 2011 and 2014 the ADAH opened permanent exhibitions in its Museum of Alabama that rely heavily on unassociated funerary objects (items removed from burials, but for which no human remains are held) to interpret the development of Native American society. On August 10, 2022, the ADAH announced the closing of The First Alabamians, its exhibition on Native Americans from prehistory to 1700. Additional funerary materials in Alabama Voices, the museum’s centerpiece exhibition covering 1700 to the present, were removed from display.

Work is underway to modify the exhibitions by introducing artifacts that were not part of burials and by incorporating significant advances in archaeological study of indigenous cultures over the past decade. Most notably, the exhibits will newly introduce perspectives offered by numerous tribal groups and highlight the continued vibrancy of indigenous cultures originating from Alabama. Revisions to Alabama Voices will open in late 2025. The successor exhibition to The First Alabamians is projected to open in 2026.

Our respectful partnerships with Native American tribes are improving our ability to share Alabama’s rich Native heritage.