Gilcrease was awarded an $81,000 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) grant. NAGPRA provides funding opportunities through the Secretary of the Interior for museums, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations for the purposes of assisting in consultation, documentation and repatriation of Native American ancestral remains and cultural items, as required by the law.

This two-year project (September 2018-September 2020) includes consultations with the Tribal partners on items subject to NAGPRA in our collection, including ancestral remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony, and travel for two representatives from each of the 11 Tribal partners to visit Gilcrease for consultations. The goal is that the consultations will lead to the repatriation of items subject to NAGPRA.

“This award enables Gilcrease to be more proactive with NAGPRA and establish stronger and more positive partnerships and relationships with Tribes,” said Laura Bryant, anthropology collections manager. “This grant gives the museum the resources needed to go beyond compliance with NAGPRA by following also the intent of the law to build and strengthen relationships between Tribes and Gilcrease. We look forward to working with our Tribal partners to return ancestors and cultural items during this project.”

(The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government.)