The United States Department of the Interior recently announced actions to improve the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), including hiring a full-time investigator to help enforce it.

The act was enacted in 1990 and was designed to serve as a process in which human remains, funerary items, sacred objects, and inherited items can be returned to the descendants, tribes, and/or Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHOs) they belong to according to a July 2021 press release. Since 2010, the DOI has received many requests to update NAGPRA. In July 2021, the department consulted various native organizations to review the proposed changes.

“Changes to the NAGPRA regulations are on the way and long overdue," said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland in a Jan. 31 release. “The repatriation of human remains and sacred cultural objects, and the protection of sacred sites is integral to preserving and commemorating Indigenous culture."

Among the proposed changes the DOI is recommending are strengthening the authorities of tribes and NHOs, addressing barriers to timely and successful disposition and repatriation, and increasing the reporting of holdings or collections, the release stated.

“Repatriation is a sacred responsibility for many Native Americans," said National Parks Service Director, Chuck Sams, in the release. "We hope our efforts to streamline the requirements of NAGPRA and invest in additional staff will lead to more instances of proper repatriation and reburial of Indigenous ancestors and cultural items.” 

The DOI is also calling on the service of a full-time civil penalties' investigator for the first time in NAGPRA's 31-year history, according to the release. That investigator is David Barland-Liles, who will investigate allegations of museums failing to comply with NAGPRA.

“David is a proven leader and skilled investigator who has helped us strengthen our government-to-government relationships with Native American Tribes and I am pleased to have him serve in this critical role,” Sams said.

Barland-Liles previously helped solve the theft of Indigenous remains from the Effigy Mounds National Monument's Museum in Iowa.

The proposed changes to NAGPRA will incorporate input from more than 700 comments from Indian Tribes and NHOs, the release stated.