Campus announcement regarding UC's Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Policy

Dear Campus Community,

The UC Office of the President (UCOP) issued the Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Interim Policy on July 24, 2020 to clarify the process by which all UC campuses will implement the Federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and California NAGPRA (CalNAGPRA).  NAGPRA protects Native American graves and requires repatriation of Native American human remains and certain cultural items (funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony).  Repatriation is the process of returning Native American ancestral human remains and certain cultural items to their indigenous communities.  UC Santa Barbara is fully committed to the goal of repatriation as well as implementation of this policy and relevant laws.  The Interim Policy substantially revised the previous policy to promote the repatriation of Native American human remains and cultural items, and to increase accountability and transparency across all UC campuses. 

I write to raise awareness of new policy requirements, affirm the campus’s commitment to the guiding principles and procedures, and enlist your assistance in ensuring the campus fully complies with this important human rights policy.  In particular, I want to draw your attention to the following significant elements of the new policy, which:

• Articulates principles that the repatriation of Native American and Native Hawaiian human remains is a fundamental objective and value of the university.

• Requires campuses to proactively review existing collections or other holdings that may potentially contain Native American or Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items.Prohibits the use of Native American or Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items in research or instruction activities without tribal approval.

• Requires the university to consult with tribes regarding traditional care practices.

• Provides mechanisms for tribes to file appeals and complaints if they disagree with campus actions or decisions under the policy.

• Provides a mechanism for members of the campus community to report Native American human remains and cultural items that are not being properly maintained or properly reported.

• Requires each campus to perform a review of all departments and units historically engaged in studies with human remains or cultural items and all departments or units identified by department deans, chairs, or unit heads as potentially holding human remains or cultural items, in order to identify previously unreported human remains or cultural items.

As the Chancellor's Designee under the Interim Policy, I am responsible for campus oversight, compliance, and decision-making associated with this policy, NAGPRA, and CalNAGPRA.  Michael Miller, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Enrollment Services, serves as the Campus Repatriation Coordinator/Repatriation Point of Contact under the policy and has been delegated authority to implement this policy.

As we prepare for the campus-wide review described above, I will be writing to department deans, chairs, and unit heads with further instruction in the coming weeks.  I kindly request the cooperation of all UC faculty, staff, and students with Assistant Vice Chancellor Miller, Repatriation Coordinator/Repatriation Point of Contact, and their department heads as needed in carrying out this review.

For updated information regarding the Policy, please visit https://ucal.us/nagpra.  A systemwide review of the Presidential Policy on Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation is currently underway and an additional campus announcement will go out the week of March 8th to allow the campus community an opportunity to review and comment on the draft policy.  For additional information regarding the campus’s NAGPRA compliance efforts, please visit https://nagpra.ucsb.edu.  Please contact Assistant Vice Chancellor Michael Miller at mikemiller@ucsb.edu or (805) 893-2118 with any questions regarding the policy or if you believe you or others may hold Native American or Native Hawaiian human remains or cultural items.  We appreciate your attention and full cooperation with this policy.

Sincerely,

Garry Mac Pherson

Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services