NAGPRA: Before and after
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed in 1990. NAGPRA is a Federal law that requires Federal agencies to provide opportunities for federally recognized tribes to obtain culturally affiliated human remains and artifacts. Most anthropologists are not opposed to repatriation of affiliated remains. For example, Rose and colleagues (1996) hypothesized that repatriation will eliminate gaps in knowledge of specific times and geographic areas, require osteological analyses to be more comprehensive, and increase use of new methodologies. Additionally, Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994) published a standardization book to provide uniform procedures for examining skeletons. The current study examines articles from the primary physical anthropology journal before and after 1990 to ascertain whether NAGPRA has resulted in the above-mentioned predictions. Statistically significant (Student’s t-test, Ps < 0.05) results indicate that compared to pre-NAGPRA, osteological studies containing Native American remains have decreased, fewer sites are used, and fewer geographic locations are examined. Only one-third of osteological studies using Native American remains published after 1994 use Buikstra and Ubelaker’s standards. Both before and after NAGPRA was enacted, over 70 percent of osteological studies come from sites in nine states. Thus, none of these predictions occurred and changes in osteological research on Native American after the enactment of NAGPRA seem to indicate that NAGPRA impedes research.
NAGPRA IS FOREVER: Osteology and the Repatriation of Skeletons
▪ Abstract The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires universities, museums, and federal agencies to inventory their archeological collections to prepare for the repatriation of skeletons to their Native American descendants. The loss of these collections will be a detriment to the study of North American osteology, but the inventory and repatriation process has increased the number of skeletons studied from about 30% to nearly 100%. The availability of funds stimulated by this law produced osteological data collection and systematization unprecedented in the history of osteology. The possibility of forming partnerships between Native Americans and osteologists has the potential of producing a vibrant future for North American osteology and the new bioarcheology.
Tools for Sediment Management in Rivers
Sediment management, including supply and continual redistribution of sediments for channel maintenance and channel forming, is critical for effective environmental water programs. Many tools have been developed to more effectively manage sediment in rivers for ecosystem maintenance and improvement. This chapter reviews some of these tools, including sediment mobilization theory, environmental water requirements for geomorphic maintenance, and complementary options. Sediment mobilization theory addresses entrainment, transport, and deposition of sediment particles. Environmental flows assessment approaches that support geomorphic processes include threshold-based approaches, field/laboratory methods, and holistic methods. Complementary options for sediment management include catchment-scale conceptual models and budgets for sediment, basin land management (e.g., reforestation, better agriculture practices, etc.), sediment management through dams, and sediment augmentation below dams. These complementary options often have cobenefits with other management objectives. The chapter emphasizes that sediment management is generally complex, such that continual research is needed, ranging from improved sediment mobilization models to large-scale river experiments.