NAGPRA

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) is federal legislation that applies to institutions receiving federal funding.  It creates a process for the repatriation and disposition of Native American Ancestral Human Remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony, as defined by the law, to lineal descendants, Native American Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations.  In its report, the U.S. Congress noted that all Human Remains “must at all times be treated with dignity and respect.”

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is committed to fulfilling its obligations under NAGPRA through consultations with Tribal communities and through the return of human remains and cultural objects to the appropriate individuals, Tribes, and organizations who have requested these remains and objects through NAGPRA.

For more information about NAGPRA, please visit the NAGPRA web site maintained by the National Park Service.

NAGPRA claims should be directed to the university’s NAGPRA committee through the Director of Repatriation:

Ellen M. Lofaro, Ph.D.
Director of Repatriation and Curator of Archaeology, Department of Anthropology
The University of Tennessee
201 Middlebrook Building
Knoxville, TN 37996-1525
(865) 974-3370

Please note that UT also houses Native American Ancestral Human Remains and cultural items that are under the legal control of federal or state agencies, for the purposes of NAGPRA, including the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. If an inquiry relates to one of these agencies, UT will provide the appropriate contact information.