What protections exist for Native American sacred sites and burial grounds?

What the Law Says

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is the primary federal law safeguarding Native American burial grounds, sacred sites, and cultural items. While 25 U.S.C. § 3001 provides foundational definitions, the full protections are detailed across NAGPRA’s operative sections (e.g., §§ 3002–3003, 3005–3009). This law applies to federal lands and institutions receiving federal funding.

NAGPRA requires federal agencies and museums that receive federal funds to inventory and repatriate Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants or culturally affiliated tribes.

It prohibits the excavation or removal of Native American human remains and cultural items from federal or tribal lands without a permit and consent from the affiliated tribe.

The law also establishes civil penalties — up to $10,000 per violation — and criminal penalties for trafficking in Native American human remains or cultural items.

Statutory Text

"Native American cultural property" means human remains, and any funerary object, sacred object, or object of cultural patrimony which has ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to Native American group identity, whether or not possessed by the group at the time of enactment of this chapter.

— 25 U.S.C. § 3001 — Definitions

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