Opinion ID: 871078
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: nagpra

Text: NAGPRA was enacted on November 16, 1990, to facilitate the return of Native American cultural items and remains to the tribes with whom those items are affiliated. [20] Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe v. U.S. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 455 F.Supp.2d 1207, 1217 (D.Nev.2006); see 25 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq. NAGPRA essentially functions as a dual statute[.] Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, 455 F.Supp.2d at 1217; see 25 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq. First, NAGPRA provides for the return of cultural items that are excavated or discovered on Federal or tribal lands[ [21] ] after November 16, 1990[.] 25 U.S.C. § 3002(a). Second, NAGPRA provides for the repatriation of human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony that are held by federal agencies, and museums or institutions that receive federal funding. [22] 25 U.S.C. § 3005. In the instant case, it is undisputed that the Kanupa Cave artifacts were taken from the cave in the late 1800s by J.S. Emerson and were then repatriated in 2003. Therefore, although Taylor cites to NAGPRA's ownership or control provisions set forth in 25 U.S.C. § 3002(a)(1)-(2), involving artifacts excavated or discovered on Federal or tribal lands after November 16, 1990, it appears that those provisions are not directly applicable to the instant case. See 25 U.S.C. § 3002(a)(1)-(2) (providing for the ownership or control of Native American cultural items which are excavated or discovered on Federal or tribal lands after November 16, 1990 ) (emphasis added). Instead, assuming that the artifacts were in fact repatriated pursuant to NAGPRA, it appears that 25 U.S.C. §§ 3003, 3004 and 3005 are the provisions of NAGPRA that would directly apply. 25 U.S.C. § 3003 requires federal agencies and museums with possession or control over holdings or collections of Native American human remains and associated funerary objects  to inventory such items and identify the cultural affiliation [23] between these objects and present-day Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. 25 U.S.C. § 3003(a) (emphasis added); 43 C.F.R. § 10.9 (2003). 25 U.S.C. § 3004 requires agencies or museums with holdings or collections of Native American unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony  to complete a summary of these items in lieu of an object-by-object inventory[,] and to describe the cultural affiliation of the collection where readily ascertainable. 25 U.S.C. § 3004(a) (emphasis added); see also 43 C.F.R. § 10.8. In the instant case, the record does not establish whether the artifacts were within 25 U.S.C. §§ 3003 or 3004. [24] 25 U.S.C. § 3005(a) provides detailed requirements for the repatriation of Native American human remains and objects possessed or controlled by Federal agencies and museums[.] [25] See also 43 C.F.R. § 10.10. For example, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 3005(a)(1) and 43 C.F.R. § 10.10(b)(1), a federal agency or museum must expeditiously return human remains and associated funerary objects upon request by a lineal descendant, Indian tribe or native Hawaiian organization, where a cultural affiliation with the tribe or organization has been established pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 3003 and 43 C.F.R. § 10.10(b). Similarly, 25 U.S.C. § 3005(a)(2) and 43 C.F.R. § 10.10(a)(1) provide for the expeditious[] return of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects or objects of cultural patrimony upon request by an Indian tribe or native Hawaiian organization, where a cultural affiliation with the tribe or organization has been shown pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 3004 and 43 C.F.R. § 10.10(a)(1), and where the affiliated tribe or organization presents evidence which ... would support a finding that the museum or Federal agency does not have a right of possession to the objects [26] as required under 43 C.F.R. § 10.10(a)(1)(iii). In sum, when remains or cultural objects held by a museum subject to NAGPRA are determined to be affiliated with a Native American tribe or native Hawaiian organization, the remains or cultural objects are to be repatriated expeditiously upon request. See Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, 455 F.Supp.2d at 1218 (citing 25 U.S.C. § 3005(a) and 43 C.F.R. § 10.10(b)). [27] In addition, [t]he return of cultural items covered by this chapter shall be in consultation with the requesting lineal descendant or tribe or organization to determine the place and manner of delivery of such items. 25 U.S.C. § 3005(a)(3); see also 43 C.F.R. § 10.10(d). Moreover, with regard to unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony, a museum must generally return the objects upon request unless it can ... prove that it has a right of possession to the objects. 25 U.S.C. § 3005(c); see also 43 C.F.R. § 10.10(a)(iii)-(iv). In the instant case, the State did not provide evidence to the grand jury regarding whether a cultural affiliation between the Kanupa Cave artifacts and a native Hawaiian organization had been established pursuant to 25 U.S.C. §§ 3003 or 3004. However, assuming that the Kanupa Cave artifacts were repatriated pursuant to NAGPRA as Taylor suggests, the artifacts would have been repatriated to a culturally affiliated organization or to a lineal descendant. See 25 U.S.C. § 3005(a). Accordingly, the individual or organization to whom the artifacts were repatriated would have had a right of possession in the artifacts at the time the artifacts were repatriated.