Our goal is to shift the power dynamics through consultation
to facilitate respectful repatriation
Since 2001, we have developed a NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation Grant proposal for the Central Council each year. These grants aim to repatriate sacred objects, cultural patrimony, and funerary objects. As of early 2019, the Central Council has repatriated 63 cultural items.
In January 2020, Jan and Jane facilitated a two-day policy development workshop during which participants developed guidelines for repatriation and guidelines for the spiritual care and use of repatriated items.
July 2016 – January 2017
We provided meeting planning and consultation facilitation services to support the efforts to repatriate ancestors and cultural items removed from the Abbott Farm complex, which are housed in at least eight museums located from coast to coast.
In October 2021, we provided NAGPRA training.
February 2018 – March 2018
We developed a NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation grant proposal to further Abbott Farm complex repatriation efforts.
August 2016 – Present
Jan provided NAGPRA training for Tribal leadership and facilitated a consultation. We are providing ongoing technical assistance with repatriation claim development for ancestors on the West coast and cultural items housed in a museum on the East coast.
October 2016 – February 2017
We guided the Tribe through a NAGPRA needs assessment.
January 2012 – November 2012
We wrote a NAGPRA Repatriation grant proposal that funded the reunification and reburial of human remains and funerary objects removed from Paa-Ko, which were housed at multiple museums located in New Mexico and California.
August 2013 – July 2016
Jan provided two half-day workshops – “NAGPRA for Tribal Officials” & “NAGPRA for Museums”, which were attended by representatives of regional Indian tribes, museums, universities, as well as federal and state agencies. In 2014 we helped develop a NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation grant proposal. During implementation of the grant, Jan provided training specifically designed for tribal elders in regard to claim development. We also provided technical assistance during repatriation claim development and as a presentation was being developed for a dispute that the Review Committee heard.
September 2012 – July 2019
We facilitated the disposition of human remains representing 20 individuals removed from unknown geographic contexts. To accomplish this, we initiated consultation with 566 federally recognized Indian Tribes and 77 Native Hawaiian organizations. Then, on April 10, 2014, we asked the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee for a recommendation to the Secretary of the Interior for disposition to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations that jointly requested disposition. The Secretary approved the dispositions and the notices of inventory completion were published without comment. This marked the return of the last of the Native American human remains housed at the museum.
In 2019, we provided training to staff and volunteers.
October 2011 – April 2015
After the museum received federal funds for the first time, we facilitated compliance with the Summary Provision of NAGPRA. Jan provided NAGPRA training to the Trustees and facilitated consultation.
May 2006 – June 2009
To facilitate the repatriation of ancestors from the Southwestern US, Jan facilitated consultations at Tribal offices in the Southwest.
As part of our commitment to community service, in 2019, we developed a Care-And-Trust agreement with the Institute that is available on our website, through the NAGPRA Community of Practice, and upon request. It is meant to be used for cultural items and ancestors that will continue to be housed at the Museum after repatriation.
July 2021 - March 2022
We are building our client's capacity to facilitate the repatriation of close to 900 individuals and more than 1700 associated funerary objects taken from New York State. To accomplish this we conducted an aboriginal land assessment to identify Tribes who may have an interest and implementation cases, planned and facilitate monthly virtual inter-tribal consultations, and developed Inventory and Notice of Inventory Completion templates.
November 2014 – August 2019
To facilitate the repatriation of 3,000 individuals and 100,000 associated funerary objects, we developed a ten-year plan that identified grant-fundable projects. We then developed the FY2015 NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation grant to fund the first project. And we continue to provide technical assistance.
March 2018 – Present
We developed their strategic plan for NAGPRA compliance and are providing ongoing support for its implementation. Currently, we are facilitating the disposition of ancestors and associated funerary objects removed from Texas.
September 2010 – December 2012
We provided technical assistance in the development of NAGPRA Inventories for human remains and associated funerary objects removed from North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
October 2020 - Present
We are building our client's capacity to comply with the Act's Collections Provisions and the Future Applicability Rule. Services include Inventory and Notice development, consultation planning, facilitation, and documentation, data management, project management, and technical assistance. Additionally, we developed an FY 2021 NAGPRA consultation/documentation grant proposal, which was funded, and are currently implementing it to facilitate the disposition of ancestors and funerary objects from the Midwest, California, and the Southeast.
June 2020 – present
We are facilitating implementation of the Inventory Provision for human remains belonging to four individuals from Florida, Massachusetts, and unknown geographic locations. We are also facilitating Summary Provision compliance.
April 2003 – June 2019
We provided our full suite of NAGPRA services, including strategic planning, Summary Provision compliance, and Inventory Provision compliance, as well as reburial planning. All of the human remains and associated funerary objects known to have been under the College's control were repatriated.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College
October 2021 - Present
The College recently acquired the Fine Arts Center and engaged us to conduct a needs assessment, build capacity, establish a data management system, and begin to initiate compliance activities.
November 2015 – April 2020
We facilitated the disposition and reburial of human remains belonging to 43 individuals and 126 associated funerary objects, which represent all of the human remains and associated funerary objects known to have been in control of the University.
To accomplish this, we developed and implemented a strategic plan for NAGPRA compliance. During implementation, we developed and distributed a Summary and Inventories. We developed a NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation grant, which funded inter-Tribal consultations that we planned and facilitated. Jan provided NAGPRA training to administrators, legal counsel, and faculty. We provided planning support for reburial, and Claire prepared the ancestors for transport and reburial. We also provided technical assistance in the development of a NAGPRA policy and procedures.
January 2019 – Present
We developed and are now wrapping up the implementation of a strategic plan for NAGPRA compliance that will result in the repatriation or disposition of 225 individuals and 530 associated funerary objects. In less than two years, we facilitated the disposition or repatriation of all of the ancestors and funerary objects from Alaska, Arizona, Florida, and Michigan, as well as a Navajo individual. Throughout implementation, we worked closely with the Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation & Repatriation Alliance (MACPRA).
Reedley College, Reedley, CA
July 2015 – June 2016
When ancestors were unexpectedly located, we facilitated repatriation of ancestors under the future applicability rule.
Fresno City College, Fresno, CA
October 2015 – March 2019
When this project was completed, we had facilitated repatriation of human remains belonging to 30 ancestors and over 600 associated funerary objects that were removed from sites in California’s Central Valley that were identified in faunal collections. To accomplish this, we developed a strategic plan for NAGPRA compliance. During plan implementation, we developed and distributed a Summary in compliance with 43 CFR 10.8 and Inventories in compliance with §10.9. To fund implementation, we developed a NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation grant. During grant implementation, we provided long-term on-site collections work, including searches for archives and collections, archives and document review, and collection cataloging. We also provided meeting planning services, facilitated inter-Tribal consultations, facilitated publication of Notices and provided technical assistance.
January 2021 - December 2021
In compliance with AB 275 (CalNAGPRA), we developed a strategic plan to facilitate the repatriation of human remains belonging to nearly 10,000 individuals and thousands of associated funerary objects.
September 2004 – July 2019
We have written and implemented 10 NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation grants and nine Repatriation grants. These projects have resulted in the repatriation or disposition of human remains representing 648 individuals, 630 associated funerary objects, 109 unassociated funerary objects, nine items identified as both sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony, and five sacred objects. During these projects, we worked with 370 Indian Tribes.
June 2015 – August 2021
We developed and implemented the City's strategic plan for NAGPRA compliance, which addressed the needs of two different collections under the City's control. These projects resulted in the disposition of 8 individuals and 50 associated funerary objects. We also provided technical support during the development of a protocol for the discovery of Native American human remains or cultural items on City or private land during City-undertakings.
Fort de Buade Museum Collection
To implement the City's strategic plan for this collection, we developed and distributed a Summary. We then developed a NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation grant proposal. During grant implementation, Jan provided NAGPRA training to City officials and Michilimackinac Historical Society staff members who work in the Museum, which houses the collection. Also during grant implementation, Claire worked on-site with Museum staff to catalog, database, and photographed the collection, which was then uploaded to a secure online NAGPRA consultation resource. We then provided meeting planning services and facilitated consultations.
Museum of Ojibwa Culture & Marquette Mission Park
To implement the initial phase of the strategic plan for this collection, we developed and distributed a Summary and Inventory. To fund further implementation we developed and received two Consultation/Documentation grants over three years.
Under the first grant, the faunal collection was examined for the presence of human remains, and we provided meeting planning and consultation facilitation services for an inter-Tribal consultation. The second grant supported the cataloging of the Museum of Ojibwa Culture's collection, and the digitization of site catalogs to provide an avenue for Tribes to identify items of interest. With the onset of the pandemic, we shifted seamlessly from in-person meeting planning and facilitation to a virtual setting.
April 2015 – July 2020
We developed a strategic plan for NAGPRA compliance knowing there were human remains representing two individuals in the control of the City and an unknown number of cultural items that could be NAGPRA-eligible. We wrote, and the City was awarded, a NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation grant to fund the implementation of the strategic plan.
During implementation, we developed a Summary and an Inventory. We facilitated the disposition of human remains representing one individual from the Western Plains by offering disposition to all of the Indian Tribes whose aboriginal land included the Western Plains and guided our client through the process of presenting the request to the Review Committee. After a geographic location was identified for the other Individual, we facilitated disposition.
Claire provided on-site support, cataloged, databased, and photographed the collection to prepare for Summary consultations. The collection was also made available to all Summary recipient Tribes through a password-protected online consultation tool.
July 2021 - present
We helped our client evaluate a repatriation claim that had been received years prior. Following the evaluation, we planned and facilitated a consultation with the claimant Tribe, the client, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which may have legal control of some of the items. We also developed a Notice of Intent to Repatriate that will be jointly published by the client and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
April 2018
Jan provided a two-day NAGPRA training and strategic plan development workshop for representatives of the Department and repositories that house the collections.
June 2019 - Present
During the first phase of this project, we provide training to the Trustees, conducted a needs assessment, and developed a strategic plan. Currently, we are providing technical assistance and training to build the client's capacity to facilitate the disposition of over 7,000 ancestors and their associated funerary objects.
December 2013 – May 2018
Developed and implemented two NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation grants that resulted in the disposition of human remains representing a minimum of 1,031 individuals and 2,050 associated funerary objects from a single site in West Virginia.
March 2011
Jan provided an all-day training for Native Hawaiian organizations that was sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Native Hawaiian Relations, the State of Hawaii State Historic Preservation Division, and the US Army Garrison in Honolulu.
2019 - Present
We are developing online training modules covering Collections Provision and Discovery Provision NAGPRA implementation.
October 2021 - Present
We are providing Discovery and Collections Provision implementation services.
October 2011 – September 2013
For the nine Air Force Space Surveillance Stations (AFSSS), we facilitated the development of MOUs that address government-to-government consultation and NAGPRA Section 3 Comprehensive Agreements.
The AFSSS are located in San Diego, CA; Gila River, AZ; Elephant Butte, NM; Lake Kickapoo, TX; Red River, AR; Silver Lake, MS; Jordan Lake, AL; Hawkinsville, GA; and Tattnall, GA, which is the aboriginal land of 74 Indian Tribes that were invited to participate in the development of the agreements and comment on Standard Operating Procedures. We planned and facilitated a consultation with the Gila River Indian Community and southeastern Tribes.
August 2011 – December 2012
In consultation with Indian Tribes, we developed a Summary and then distributed it. We then continued to facilitate consultation.
June 2016 – Apr 2018
We facilitated the repatriation of human remains and funerary objects seized during a law enforcement activity.
August 2018 - August 2021
We facilitated NAGPRA Inventory Provision implementation for ancestors and funerary objects removed from two sites.