Policy

The National Park Service, through the National NAGPRA Program, provides guidance for complying with the law and regulations. While most of that guidance is provided on the pages in this website, some guidance documents are also available for downloading and printing.

Duty of Care FAQs this guidance document provides additional information on the regulatory requirements for a museum or Federal agency to care for, safeguard, and preserve human remains or cultural items in its custody or in its possession or control (last updated January 2024).

Steps to Repatriation provides additional information on the steps for repatriation of human remains and associated funerary objects or for repatriation of cultural items. This document includes estimated Timelines for Repatriation based on the regulatory requirements (last updated December 2023).

Repatriation of human remains or associated funerary objects.

Step 1 - Itemized List (last updated March 2024)
Step 2 - Initiate consultation (last updated March 2024)
Step 3 - Consult on human remains or associated funerary objects (last updated March 2024)

Repatriation of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.

Step 1 - Compile a summary (last updated March 2024)

Other tools for complying with NAGPRA include:

• Databases providing detailed information on NAGPRA compliance.
• Templates in MS Word format for complying with NAGPRA.
• Reports on a variety of NAGPRA topics.