Advisory groups composed of elders and cultural specialists review research proposals and cultural heritage ordinances, determine types of research permits, specify whether research results may eventually be disclosed, published, or reproduced, and determine penalties for the profit-oriented use of resources. In the Southwest, the Hopi, Navajo, and San Carlos tribes repeatedly criticize researchers who publish sensitive information. They also have tightened research guidelines, and now monitor approved research, and control the information intended for release. Previously, the repatriation of burial remains has been what was crucial. Today, the appropriation of Native American oral history and stereotypical representation in writing, film and video is most important.
Visual images are a contested territory.
Native Americans now employ property right laws to protect many aspects of their heritage. In the Southwest, for example, a Hopi tribe has attempted to limit academic researchers' use of historic photographs and documents. The White Mountain Apache seek to acquire and preserve photographs and documents that relate to their history and culture. The Santo Domingo Pueblo filed a lawsuit against a local newspaper for photographing tribal dances without permission. The San Ildefonso Pueblo asked a filmteam invited by a Pueblo member, but not by the Pueblo government, to stop filming, but allowed a filmteam invited by the Pueblo government to stay.