What items are subject to return under NAGPRA?
There are five carefully defined categories of cultural items that NAGPRA covers: human remains, associated funerary object, unassociated funerary object, sacred object, and object of cultural patrimony. They are each defined by the law as: Human remains refer to the physical remains of a human body of a person of Native American ancestry. The term does not include remains or portions of remains that may reasonably be determined to have been freely given or naturally shed by the individual from whose body they were obtained, such as hair made into ropes or nets. Funerary objects refer to items that, as part of the death rite or ceremony of a culture, are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally at the time of death or later with or near individual human remains. Associated funerary objects refers to funerary objects associated with human remains where the human remains are also in the possession or control of the museum or Federal agency. Associated funerary objects also m
