On July 27, 2020, the University of California System of research universities announced “the issuance of the UC Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Interim Policy.”
Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, UC Berkeley.
In its press release, the UC System explained its purpose and a timeline for moving from an interim policy to a permanent solution:
The University is committed to the repatriation of Native American human remains and cultural items in accordance with the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), its accompanying regulations, and the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA). The fundamental importance of facilitating the repatriation of Native American and Native Hawaiian human remains and cultural items is captured in the revised Policy and President Napolitano’s cover letter, along with an apology on behalf of the University of California.
With more than 280,000 students and more than 227,000 faculty and staff, and 2.0 million alumni living and working around the world, the UC System’s decision is far-reaching. The interim policy sets up campus committees for each of those schools in the UC System that remain in “control” of Human remains and Cultural items deemed to fall under the auspices of NAGPRA. Its tone is remarkable for its insistence on “respectful consultation” with Native tribes and its effort to create supplemental inventories of campus artifacts that might now be considered items subject to repatriation. The interim policy makes clear its resolution is an ethical one:
UC acknowledges that the injustices perpetrated on Native Hawaiians and Native Americans are reflected even to the present, and that as long as Human Remains and Cultural Items remain in the University’s control, healing and reparation will be incomplete.
It is the result of hundreds of hours of labor by a workgroup composed of faculty, administrators, and community stakeholders that reviewed tribal responses and the outcomes of listening sessions sponsored by the UC Office of the President.
This policy is designed to . . . bring the ancestors home.
Amy Lonetree (Ho-Chunk) Associate Professor of History at UC Santa Cruz, and a member of the workgroup comments, “the UC System does not have the best track record, with some of our campuses remaining steadfast in their opposition to repatriation. This policy is designed to remedy this and bring the ancestors home.”
The final implementation of the policy is expected by December, “in order to allow tribes that have not been able to review due to the COVID-19 pandemic additional time to comment, while at the same time, going forward with a significantly improved process of repatriation.”
