In order for tribes to participate meaningfully in that program, it is necessary that they be treated as equal partners with the State Historic Preservation Officers and Federal agencies. Tribes do not necessarily want to establish programs that mirror those of the State Historic Preservation Offices, however. Although tribes are deeply concerned about the preservation of historic places on reservation lands, many are equally concerned about such places on other lands that they occupied before being removed to reservations. Such tribes are confronted with special problems in seeking protection for their historic places. Although all these policies have been abandoned today, tribes are still suffering from their effects.
Many tribes are interested in studying their past and in interpreting it through their own museums.
Tribes, however, are opposed to being objects of studies over which they have no control. They strongly oppose the way Indians are portrayed in many historical studies, to the buying and selling of certain kinds of artifacts and objects, and to the curatorial policies of many museums. Some objects in museums are understood by tribal elders to have sacred power that makes it inappropriate or even dangerous for people without special authority and training to handle them. Others are simply regarded as having been stolen from the tribes, and their return is strongly desired. There are special concerns about the disturbance of graves during land development, and about the exhumation, study, and retention of human remains and grave offerings by private collectors and by archeologists.