TO: All Employees
FR: Karen Moranski, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and President’s Designee for NAGPRA
As part of our legal and ethical obligations under the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA), Sonoma State University is committed to a collaborative, campus-wide approach to achieving timely and respectful repatriation of Native American ancestors and cultural items that have been held at our institution for far too long. Today, I am asking for your help in support of this effort.
One of the requirements of the NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA State Audit is that each CSU campus conduct a campus wide assessment of departments and storage facilities, including off-site or satellite locations. As a member of our campus community, I ask that you physically check the areas under your control and complete the survey linked here indicating what, if any, human remains and Native American cultural items and/or collections your department or administrative unit have in your physical possession, either on campus or in any off-campus storage facility or campus-owned location under your control.
PLEASE NOTE: these human remains and/or items are not limited to items recovered by archaeological excavation, and can include objects purchased by or gifted to you, your unit, or the campus at any point in time.
We will be trying to achieve the highest possible response rate from all campus employees. For most of you, that will mean indicating you do not have Native American ancestors and cultural items. After submission of the survey, if you have indicated that you have or think you may have any human remains, items and/or collections within your unit, a member of our campus NAGPRA team will follow up with you to review. Per AB-275, please minimize the handling of human remains, items, and/or collections by using existing information and visual inspection. Please do not move or touch human remains, items, or collections. If the human remains, cultural items, and/or collections are housed in an improper or unsecured manner or in facilities exposed to harmful elements or environments, please contact me at provost@sonoma.edu immediately.
AB-389 prohibits the use of Native American human remains and cultural items in teaching and research and therefore, access must be restricted to the Department/Unit director until further notice.
I appreciate your time and attention to this request. Please complete the linked survey by February 15, 2024. If you have questions, please contact Interim Repatriation Coordinator Doshia Dodd at doshia.dodd@sonoma.edu.
Addendum
In 2001, the State Legislature passed AB-978, the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001 (Steinberg, 2001), requiring all state agencies and museums that receive state funding and that have possession or control over collections of human remains or cultural items to provide a process for the identification and repatriation of these items to the appropriate tribes. The bill also created a Repatriation Oversight Commission with oversight authority. The intent of the legislation was to cover gaps in the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (Udall, 1990) specific to the State of California.
After the Repatriation Oversight Commission remained unfunded for over a decade, the Native American Heritage Commission was granted oversight authority. In 2018, the State Legislature added additional Commission responsibilities under AB-2836 (Gloria, 2018), including providing technical assistance to the University of California (UC) in adopting policies and procedures adopted to expedite repatriation of remaining items in its possession.
On September 25, 2020, Governor Newsom signed AB-275 (Ramos, 2020) into law, which amended CalNAGPRA and became effective on January 1, 2021. In AB-275, the State Legislature added additional Commission responsibilities, including maintaining a list of California Indian tribes and their state aboriginal territories, adopting mediation procedures, and publishing notices of completion of preliminary inventories and summaries on the Commission website.
On October 10, 2023, Governor Newsom signed AB-389 (Ramos, 2023) into law, which require the California State University to comply with various requirements regarding the handling, maintenance, and repatriation of Native American human remains and cultural items under the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001, including adopting and implementing systemwide policies that, among other things, prohibit the use of any Native American human remains or cultural items for purposes of teaching or research at the California State University while in the possession of a California State University campus or museum.