SECTION 1. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to reflect the decisions of 
the United States District Court of Oregon and the United 
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and reit-
erate that Congress intended the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (Public Law 101–601; 25 
U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) (referred to hereafter in this Act as 
the ‘‘Act’’) to apply only to remains and other cultural 
items that have a significant genetic or cultural relation-
ship to presently existing Native American tribes, and to 
protect the ability for scientific study of ancient human 
remains or cultural items discovered on Federal lands that 
are not substantially related to presently existing tribes. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The American public benefits in many im-
portant ways from new information about the an-
cient peoples and cultures that preceded us on this 
continent. 
(2) The litigation that occurred over the study 
and disposition of the ancient human skeletal re-
mains known as Kennewick Man was extremely cost-
ly and divisive. Ultimately, the United States Dis-
trict Court of Oregon and the United States Court 
of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Federal 
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agencies erred in applying the Act to Kennewick 
Man and blocking scientific study. 
(3) Future controversies are likely to arise over 
scientific study, safekeeping and disposition of other 
ancient skeletal remains and cultural items if greater 
clarity is not provided in the Act. 
(4) When the Act was originally enacted, it was 
the intent of Congress that the Act should only 
apply to human remains or other cultural items that 
have a special, significant, and substantial relation-
ship to presently existing Native Americans. 
(5) Determinations by Federal agencies and 
museums that human remains and other cultural 
items are subject to the provisions of the Act should 
be based upon reliable and substantial scientific in-
formation. 
(6) The Archaeological Resources Protection 
Act of 1979 (Public Law 96–95; 93 Stat. 721, 16 
U.S.C. 470aa et seq.) reflects this Nation’s commit-
ment to the preservation of archaeological resources 
and scientific study of these resources for the benefit 
of all Americans. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
The text of section 2(9) of the Act (25 U.S.C. 
3001(9)) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘ ‘Native Amer-
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ican’ means cultural items that have a significant and sub-
stantial genetic or cultural relationship, based on factors 
other than geography alone, to a presently existing tribe, 
people, or culture that is now indigenous to the United 
States.’’. 
SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF ABILITY FOR SCIENTIFIC STUDY. 
Section 3 of the Act (25 U.S.C. 3002) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) PROTECTION OF ABILITY TO STUDY.—Nothing 
in this Act shall be deemed to restrict excavation, exam-
ination, investigation, or scientific study under the Ar-
chaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 of any cul-
tural item found on Federal land that has not been deter-
mined to be the property of an Indian tribe or a Native 
Hawaiian organization.’’. 
Æ 
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