This analysis highlights how museums delay repatriation in Native American contexts, implying the need for improved compliance with NAGPRA.
Museums and federal agencies regularly circumvent requirements of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The 2024 NAGPRA regulation updates closed some loopholes, but institutions continue to filibuster the NAGPRA process through both intention and ignorance. Instead of working toward repatriation, academics continue to theorize and write about NAGPRA. Additionally, museums and federal agencies fail to understand the definition and intentions of consultation and repatriation. Consultation initiation should occur intentionally, and all NAGPRA professionals should recognize that repatriation is about possession or control as opposed to custody. By accurately adhering to the NAGPRA process, NAGPRA practitioners may better serve Native peoples.
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Andrews et al. (2026) studied this question.
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