Dear UCR Campus Community,

 

The UC Office of the President (UCOP) issued the Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Interim Policy on July 24, 2020 to clarify the process with which all UC campuses will implement the Federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the California NAGPRA (CalNAGPRA). NAGPRA was enacted to protect Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Native Alaskan graves and requires repatriation of  human remains and certain cultural items. Repatriation is the process of returning Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Native Alaskan ancestral human remains and certain cultural items to their original communities. 

UC Riverside is fully committed to the goals of NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA as well as the implementation of the UCOP policy, in its current and future forms, and all relevant laws.  The Interim Policy substantially revised the previous policy to promote the repatriation of human remains and cultural items, and to increase accountability and transparency across all UC campuses.

 

I write to raise awareness of new policy requirements, affirm UCR’s commitment to the guiding principles and procedures of the policy, provide procedures to report if you believe you or others may hold Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Native Alaskan human remains or cultural items, and enlist your assistance ensuring the campus fully complies with this important human rights and cultural heritage effort.  In particular, I want to draw your attention to the following critical elements of the new policy, which:

• Articulates principles that the repatriation of Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Native Alaskan human remains is a fundamental objective and value of the university.
• Requires campuses to proactively review existing collections or other holdings that may potentially contain Native American, Native Hawaiian, or  Native Alaskan human remains or cultural items.
• Prohibits the use of Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Native Alaskan human remains or cultural items in research or instruction activities without tribal and university approval.
• Requires the university to consult with tribes regarding traditional practices for the care of ancestral human remains and cultural items. 
• Provides procedures for tribes to file appeals or complaints if they disagree with campus actions or decisions under the policy.
• Provides a procedure for members of the campus community to report Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Native Alaskan human remains and cultural items that are not being properly maintained or properly reported.
• Requires each campus to perform a review of all departments and units historically engaged in studies with human remains or cultural items and all departments or units identified by department deans, chairs, or unit heads as potentially holding human remains or cultural items, in order to identify previously unreported human remains or cultural items.

 As the Chancellor’s Designee under the Interim Policy, I am responsible for campus oversight, compliance, and decision-making associated with this policy, NAGPRA, and CalNAGPRA. Gerald Clarke, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, serves as the Campus Repatriation Coordinator under the policy and has been delegated authority to implement the policy.

 

As we prepare for the campus-wide review described above, I will be writing to department deans, chairs, and unit heads with further instruction in the coming weeks. I kindly request the cooperation of all UC faculty, staff, and students with the Repatriation Coordinator and their department heads as needed in carrying out this review.

 

For updated information regarding the Policy, please visit https://ucal.us/nagpra. For additional information regarding the UCR NAGPRA compliance efforts, please visit https://nagpra.ucr.edu. Please contact UCR Repatriation Coordinator Gerald Clarke at gerald.clarke@ucr.edu or (951) 827-6427 with any questions regarding the policy or if you believe you or others may hold Native American or Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items. 

 

Additional project staff include:

Dr. M. C. Hall, Director, Archaeological Research Unit, UCR NAGPRA Collection Curator, arumch@ucr.edu, or (951) 827-5745

Steven Mandeville-Gamble, University Librarian, NAGPRA Project Administrator, stevenmg@ucr.edu or (951) 827-3221.

 

We appreciate your attention and full cooperation with this important policy.