Research Paper on:
Kennewick Man Controversy and the NAGPRA

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
of Native American remains and artifacts from archeological projects, museums and agencies. Since it was passed, a great deal of controversy has surrounded the act especially in the case of  the Kennewick Man. The Kennewick Man was a 9,300 old skeleton found near the Columbia River in Washington in 1996. Following the guidelines of the act, the Department of the  Interior wanted to hand over the remains to a nearby Native American tribe without scientific examination. Archaeologists brought the case to court using the argument that not only was the  find critical to the development of the theories of migration in North America but also there was evidence that the Kennewick Man was not even of Indian origin. Overall, anthropologists  and scientists believe that NAGPRA was made out of political considerations for the Native Americans but elevates the religious beliefs of Native Americans over those of other Americans, making it  a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution and disregarding the field of science. In 1990, the Native American Graves Protection and  Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed which basically outlined the repatriation of Native American human remains and funerary objects from museum or federal agency collections and those which have been uncovered  from Indian lands (Clark, 1999). The act has caused a great deal of controversy in the field of archaeology and has in many ways changed the way archaeology and excavations  are conducted throughout the United States. A summary of the act presented by L.M. Sharamitaro (2001) shows that the act: clarifies the right of ownership of Indian, Alaska Native and  Native Hawaiian (Native American) human remains and artifacts which include all funerary, religious and objects of cultural patrimony which have been found on federal or tribal lands; outlines the conditions