| In the Smaller Scope of Conscience In 1989, The National Museum of the American Indian Act (NMAIA) was successfully passed after a long and intense struggle. One year later, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) followed. These federal repatriation statutes--arguably some of the most important laws in the history of anthropology, museology, and American Indian rights--enabled Native Americans to reclaim human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. C. Timothy McKeown is a legal anthropologist with the Department of the Interior where, for 18 years, he worked directly on the implementation of NAGPRA. He is also an instructor for the National Association of Tribal Historical Preservation Officers. |