Evaluating the Impacts of the 2024 Changes to NAGPRA Regulations on Museums and Institutions

This project examines how the 2024 federal revisions to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) have functionally affected California museums and universities. NAGPRA was enacted in 1990 to ensure the protection and return of Native American ancestors and cultural belongings, but repatriation progress has remained limited both nationally and within California, where a state-level counterpart, CalNAGPRA, was already in place. To assess the practical effect of the new federal regulations, which aimed to close loopholes, strengthen tribal authority, and accelerate repatriation processes, this study surveyed repatriation coordinators, curators, and NAGPRA staff at eleven California institutions. The findings analyze the success of the federal changes by using California, a state with its own repatriation law and a uniquely complex Indigenous history, as a case study.