In the United States, the enactment of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990 was an important force in bringing about a sea change in museum practice and principles. Here NAGPRA acted as the much needed wedge that forced institutions, both museums and federal agencies, to engage with their subjects and to reveal information and details about items and how they were collected. The history of how and why repatriation legislation came about in the United States has been addressed by several authors from a wide variety of perspectives. NAGPRA consider as 'landmark legislation' that fundamentally transforms the way US museums and tribes interact. NAGPRA has resulted in the repatriation of tens of thousands of human remains, hundreds of thousands of funerary objects, and thousands of important cultural and/or religious items. Because of NAGPRA, the National Museum of the American Indian Act (NMAIA), and the commitment of native and nonnative participants, museums and tribes are conceiving of and beginning more collaborative projects.