DNR works with native tribes to repatriate collections

ETOWAH — The Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act is a federal law enacted in 1990 that provides a process for federal agencies and museums receiving federal funding to return Native American human remains and cultural items to lineal descendants and federally recognized tribes.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is dedicated to the law’s ethical basis, to respectfully telling our region’s Native American histories, and to collaborating with indigenous groups with ancestral ties to Georgia. Items subject to repatriation include funerary, sacred and cultural patrimony items, as well as human remains. Everything from a burial context is subject to NAGPRA.

DNR’s repatriation efforts for Etowah began shortly after the law was enacted; an inventory of items was completed in 1996. Etowah is culturally affiliated with five Muskogean-speaking tribes: the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town and Kialegee Tribal Town.

The Notice of Inventory Completion was published in the Federal Register in 2009. In 2021, the Muscogee Nation filed an official repatriation claim for the more than 187,000 funerary objects and 404 ancestors under DNR control. Because more than eight institutions across the country hold ancestors and associated funerary items from Etowah, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation has made several Etowah Repatriation claims, including at the Smithsonian.

Removing NAGPRA items from exhibit will begin in late January 2023, and the process of reuniting ancestors with their funerary belongings is expected to take three to five years. DNR historians and archaeologists are still considering how museum displays will be permanently reimagined, so a timeline for completion is not yet available. The museum space will be under transformation until spring 2023.

The current Etowah Indian Mounds exhibit room will be transformed into a temporary interactive learning center to showcase how people lived during the Mississippian period (1000-1550 CE). This learning center will highlight the continued vibrancy of indigenous cultures originating from the Southeast.

Visitors will still be able to walk up the staircase to the top of the mounds. Ownership of all NAGPRA items and decisions about their care will be transferred to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The goal is to reunite all funerary belongings with their ancestors for reburial.

Native American historic sites, as well as museums with archaeological collections nationwide, are working with culturally affiliated tribes to repatriate collections subject to NAGPRA. Here in Georgia, the National Park Service worked with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and other tribal nations to repatriate individuals back to Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (formerly Ocmulgee National Monument) in Macon.

An initial inventory of NAGPRA items for Kolomoki Mounds State Park was completed by DNR in 1996; however, cultural affiliation was not determined. DNR is committed to reinitiating consultation for this collection to determine tribal affiliation so that repatriation may be completed. DNR has completed NAGRPA consultations for other locations in Georgia including New Echota State Historic Site and a site in Jackson County.

DNR historians and archaeologists will follow the guidance of the Muscogee Nation regarding whether items can go back on display in the future. Artifacts that were excavated from non-burial contexts may be considered for exhibition, along with modern art pieces created by tribal members.

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