Abstract
One age-old human practice that crosses international and cultural barriers is our reverence and burial of our dead. Contrarily, grave desecration and grave robbery are especially despicable. Grave desecration, after all, abuses the most defenseless members of our society—the dead. Abuse of Native American graves was common in America in the 19th and early 20th Century and became an instrument of racism and colonialism, in America as elsewhere. The Thomas Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa has extensive collections of Native American archaeological and cultural artifacts. In 1990 the United States government enacted the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), to combat grave robbery. NAGPRA requires museums to return Native American cultural materials to the tribes upon request. When NAGPRA was first enacted, as legal counselor to Gilcrease Museum I was outraged. Our founder, Thomas Gilcrease, himself half-Indian, was no grave robber. He had acquired these materials by bona-fide purchase. This new law, I believed, violated the Constitution. Nevertheless, the Museum Trustees voted to comply. Compliance was difficult for us; however, it yielded a positive outcome. Many tribes happily recovered their materials. Other tribes left their artifacts at Gilcrease Museum, where they were protected and cared for. This paper explores the Gilcrease Museum, cultural artifacts, human remains and repatriation. The Gilcrease’s experience with repatriation seems to be a part of a trend around the world, as seen with the Elgin Marbles and the bust of Nefertiti.
Presenters
Mark SwineySenior Assistant City Attorney, Legal Department, City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Native American, Museums, Repatriation, Cultural Patrimony
