[Staff] American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Questionnaire

[VCREDadmin]

Dear UCR faculty and staff,

Recently, my office reached out to all campus leaders, deans, academic department chairs about the UC's responsibilities under the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA). By now, you may have already been contacted by your supervisor, department chair, or dean asking you to report any Native American human remains, other human remains, or Native American artifacts stored on or off campus by your department or unit.

For your information, I am sharing with all members of the UCR faculty and staff the letter that went out to those leaders on November 19, 2021.

If you do know of any such remains or artifacts, please communicate that with your supervisor or department head so that that information can be included in the survey that went out as part of this communication. Please note that the UCR NAGPRA Repatriation Coordinator and UCR NAGPRA Specialist will oversee any inventorying of items that are identified through this survey process: you do not need to create an itemized inventory.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to let Megan Murphy, UCR NAGPRA Specialist (megan.murphy at ucr.edu<mailto:megan.murphy at ucr.edu> or (951) 827-6349), Steven Mandeville-Gamble, UCR NAGPRA Administrator (stevenmg at ucr.edu<mailto:stevenmg at ucr.edu> or (951) 827-3221), or Gerald Clarke, UCR Repatriation Coordinator (gerald.clarke at ucr.edu<mailto:gerald.clarke at ucr.edu> or (951) 827-6427), know.

Sincerely,

Dr. Rodolfo H. Torres
Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
Chancellor's Designee on NAGPRA"

From: VCREDadmin <vcredadmin at ucr.edu>
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2021 1:44 PM
Subject: American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Questionnaire

Message on behalf of VC Rodolfo Torres:


Dear Deans, Department Chairs, and Unit Heads,

I write regarding specific actions required under the University of California Native American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Interim Policy<https://ucal.us/nagpra> (https://ucal.us/nagpra) recently issued by the Office of the President. My April 2021 campus-wide email (see attached letter) provides a broad overview of the campus's commitment to the policy. In addition to an annual campus-wide communication to raise awareness of the policy requirements, the campus is obligated to conduct a systematic review to locate any previously unreported Native American Human Remains and Cultural Items (see Section V. E). Further, the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA) specifies that, because it may not be clear which objects are Cultural Items, Summaries must include all Native American ethnographic or archaeological objects ("Native American Objects"). Preliminary Summaries and Inventories must be completed by January 1, 2022 and submitted to the Native American Heritage Commission. The intention of this campus-wide review is to ensure the campus identifies and properly reports all Native American Human Remains and Native American Objects. To that end, I ask Deans, Department Chairs, Unit Heads, and other supervisory staff to complete the attached initial assessment in consultation with your faculty, staff, and students as appropriate.

The UC policy requires each department/unit to conduct an informed initial assessment about whether the department/unit and individual faculty, staff, or students hold Native American Human Remains or Native American Objects. We are requesting this information for any collections under UC Control (including any that UC may have loaned to other institutions or individuals), or under the Control of another entity and in physical care of the UC, or any of our faculty, staff, and students.

To assist with this process, I have attached a document providing additional guidance in planning and carrying out your department/unit assessment, as well as relevant definitions used in NAGPRA, CalNAGPRA, and the UC policy. I have asked the campus designated NAGPRA Specialist Megan Murphy to coordinate this effort. After these reports have been submitted, she will review and identify items and departments/units that may require further assessment.

Please provide Gerald Clarke, UCR Repatriation Coordinator (gerald.clarke at ucr.edu<mailto:gerald.clarke at ucr.edu>) the results of your department or unit review via the online submission form<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ISJd6Oc_3YhbWhz7AyTetBEax10z5B3zFxUf-jJ1uBw/edit> (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ISJd6Oc_3YhbWhz7AyTetBEax10z5B3zFxUf-jJ1uBw/edit ) set up for this purpose by December 3, 2021. Please note that a full list of the questions to be answered via the online form can be found below.

We understand that COVID-19 may limit the ability to review labs, offices, and museums. Please contact Gerald Clarke if you are unable to complete this in the provided timeframe, especially if you think your department/unit potentially holds Native American Human Remains and/or Native American Objects, or if you have any questions. In the event that the initial assessment indicates departments/units potentially hold Native American Human Remains and/or Native American Objects, Gerald Clarke will follow up directly with the next steps.

We appreciate your attention and full cooperation with this specific request and the policy in general.

Sincerely,

[Text, letter  Description automatically generated]
Dr. Rodolfo H. Torres
Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development

Attachments:

Department/Unit Reporting Questionnaire & Certification (see below)
NAGPRA Awareness Raising Letter 04.05.21.pdf

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