A bill requiring the repatriation of Native cultural objects has passed the U.S. House and Senate and is headed to President Joe Biden's desk to be signed into law.
The Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony (STOP) Act “prohibits the exportation of Native American cultural items and archaeological resources that were illegally obtained; provides for the return of such items, … and establishes and increases related criminal penalties.”
Specifically, the bill increases the maximum prison term — from five years to 10 years — for someone convicted of selling, buying or transporting human remains or cultural objects that were illegally obtained.
The bill also requires the Interior Department and State Department to arrange for the voluntary return of human remains and sacred items.
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The law also requires Interior to: refer people and organizations to tribes to facilitate the voluntary return of items; convene an interagency working group, and convene an Indigenous working group consisting of representatives from tribes to provide advice on issues concerning the repatriation of sacred items.
The Fort Peck Tribes earlier this year repatriated cultural items — including a beaded buckskin, rawhide drum with pictographs, beaded leather bags and a Dakota girl’s dress, among other things — from the University of Montana.
Fort Peck Cultural Resource Department Director Dyan Youpee alleged that UM was not in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection Act (NAGPRA), a federal law stating that human remains and other items of cultural significance belong to lineal descendants and tribes. If signed into law, the STOP Act would build upon NAGPRA.
Dave Kuntz, director of strategic communications at UM, said it’s the university's intention to be compliant with federal law. He added UM hopes to hire a repatriation coordinator, whose full-time job would be to work with tribes to return items of significance.
UM in August received $99,314 from the National Park Service to support documentation and repatriation of such items. Kuntz said this funding “won’t pay for the new position, but it will support it.”