Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990 and the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA) of 2001 establish the legal rights of lineal descendants, Tribal Nations, and Native Hawaiian Organizations with regard to their ancestral remains and cultural items (funerary objects, sacred items, and objects of cultural patrimony).

The laws respectively require any institution receiving federal/state funding to complete summaries and inventories of collections that may contain ancestral remains or cultural items, and to notify and consult with possible lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Tribal Nations, or Native Hawaiian Organizations on the repatriation and appropriate handing of these collections.

For more information regarding NAGPRA, please visit the National NAGPRA website.

For more information on CalNAGPRA, please visit the NAHC's CalNAGPRA website.

NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA at Sacramento State

Sacramento State holds Native American ancestral remains and cultural items from numerous localities, primarily located in Northern California. These are housed in the campus Archaeological Curation Facility (ACF), which acts as a repository for collections generated by past Department of Anthropology fieldwork and collections controlled by other state and federal agencies, and in the Museum of Anthropology.

Sacramento State is committed to fulfilling the University’s responsibilities under NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA. Repatriation activities at Sacramento State are led by a core staff with oversight by the Office of the President and the NAGPRA Implementation Committee. Mark Wheeler, Senior Advisor to the President, serves as the campus NAGPRA Designee. For questions regarding NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA at Sacramento State, please contact the NAGPRA Coordinator, Sarah Eckhardt via email at Sarah.eckhardt@mxy163.com, telephone at (916) 278-6292 or mail at:

Sarah Eckhardt
NAGPRA Coordinator
Office of the President, MS 6106
6000 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95819-6106

Reporting Native American Ancestral Remains and Cultural Objects

As part of Sacramento State's legal obligation under state and federal repatriation laws, and our ethical duty to our Tribal partners, we will regularly survey campus to ensure there are no unreported Native American ancestral remains and cultural objects that are the responsibility of the University. We have also established the form below to allow anyone to anonymously report at any time human remains and Native American cultural objects that they may have encountered during their work or studies at Sacramento State. While the form below is anonymous, you may elect to provide contact information if you wish the NAGPRA Coordinator to follow up with you directly. All responses are confidential.

Anonymous Reporting of Human Remains and Native American Cultural Objects at Sac State

Campus NAGPRA Advisory Committee

Sacramento State NAGPRA Implementation Committee oversees and counsels the University on matters relating to NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA. This includes making recommendations that are consistent with legislation and the mission of the University; offering recommendations on policies and procedures; reviewing claims and requests submitted by tribal nations; and providing guidance on other aspects of the appropriate implementation of repatriation law. The committee meets monthly.

Currently, committee members include representatives of the University’s Anthropology Department, Ethnic Studies Department and Native American Studies program, one external public agency representative, and three outside representatives from California Tribal Nations. This composition will be updated to meet the requirements set by CalNAGPRA upon the nomination and appointment of committee members by the NAHC and California State University Chancellor’s Office.

Vacancies to the committee will be announced and nomination forms and instructions can be accessed through the Chancellor's Office.

Published Notices

The table below provides a list of Notices of Inventory Completion and Notices of Intent to Repatriate that Sacramento State has published to the Federal Register. Some are published in partnership with other Universities, or state and federal agencies.

CalNAGPRA Inventories/Summaries

Sacramento State submitted Preliminary Inventories and Summaries of our archaeological and ethnographic collections from California to the California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), as required under CalNAGPRA. These inventories and summaries are now available for review on the NAHC's website. They are continuously updated as repatriations, consultations, and discoveries of unreported ancestral remains and cultural objects occur.

Sacramento State NAGPRA Policies & Procedures  

Sacramento State is currently drafting updated NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA policies and procedures that will be posted here once they have been finalized and approved.

NAGPRA Forms

The table below provides links to the forms Sacramento State uses for NAGPRA. Each form should be completed and sent to the NAGPRA Coordinator, Sarah Eckhardt, either via email or mail to:

Sarah Eckhardt
NAGPRA Coordinator
Office of the President, MS 6106
6000 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95819-6106

For help drafting a claim, please reach out to the NAGPRA Coordinator.

Links and Resources

Sacramento State Resources

• Anthropology Department
• Archaeological Curation Facility

California State University System Resources

• CalNAGPRA/NAGPRA at the CSU

External Resources

• National NAGPRA Website
• The NAGPRA Act
• California Native American Heritage Commission
• U.S. Department of the Interior- Bureau of Land Management
• U.S. Department of the Interior—Bureau of Reclamation
• Association of American Indian Affairs
• National Congress of American Indians
• National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers
• NAGPRA Comics