ABSTRACT
In 2008, Washington State passed legislation that established a unified process for the reporting and handling of non-forensic human skeletal remains. Notifications to affected tribes were required as well as tribal participation in establishing the disposition of Native American remains. The law also created a new position, the State Physical Anthropologist, and gave jurisdiction over non-forensic human skeletal remains to the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
A review of the law and the results of its implementation over the past 12 years is presented. In Washington State, the law, process, and position have greatly improved collaborative relationships between scientists and Native tribes, dramatically decreased the time that ancestral remains were held in bureaucratic limbo, and allowed the collection of osteological data while remaining sensitive to the concerns of descendant communities. For these reasons, we argue that Washington’s human skeletal remains law represents an excellent model for adoption of similar laws and positions in other states and regions.
