The final rule implementing the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act was published in the Federal Register on December 4,
1995.
The rule establishes procedures for protecting and determining disposition
of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and
objects of cultural patrimony that are intentionally excavated or
inadvertently discovered on Federal or Tribal lands. It also establishes
procedures for conducting summaries and inventories and repatriating human
remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural
patrimony in museum or Federal agency collections.
The final rule was prepared by the Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
National Park Service, for the Secretary of the Interior in consultation
with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review
Committee as directed by section 8 (c) (7) of the Act. The rule was
initially published in the Federal Register as a proposal on May 28, 1993,
to solicit public comment. The extensive preamble to the final rule
addresses each of the substantive comments received during the comment
period.
The text of the final rule is available on the National Archeological Data
Base (http://www.cast.uark.edu/d.cast/nadb.html). The Federal Register is
also available at most large libraries. The Federal Register is also now
available on line at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/.