ABSTRACT

This chapter considers the ways in which the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990 intersects present-day concerns that Native North Americans express about ancestors, objects, spirits, and history. The desire to explore, disturb, and loot Indian graves dates back to the earliest periods of contact with Europeans and has continued throughout the history of the United States. At the same time, America’s indigenous peoples have expressed concern for physical remains and the spiritual needs of the living and the dead, from the time of contact. NAGPRA, as federal legislation that addressed issues of human rights and tribal sovereignty, is a recent chapter in a much older complex history between Native North America and settler colonialism. This chapter considers the ways in which NAGPRA engages the haunting legacies of the past.