Journal Article

REPATRIATION AND CONSTRUCTS OF IDENTITY

Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Chip, Powell, Jami

2012

Overview

This paper examines the methodology by which cultural affiliation is determined through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990. Using a case study of cultural affiliation between the contemporary Haudenosaunee nations and the historic Susquehannock, we explore the applied frameworks and theoretical implications of how identities are constructed in the repatriation process. In particular, first, we provide an analytical approach to consider the legal logic by which anthropology museums can determine cultural affiliation under NAGPRA. Second, we consider why legal constructions of social groups legitimized through NAGPRA broaden anthropological concepts of identity but still are not embraced by scholars and museums. The paper's goals are thus to provide a foundation to reconsider Susquehannock collections in museums across the United States, make more transparent the means by which cultural affiliation is determined, and advance our understanding of how NAGPRA shapes constructs of identity.

• Publisher: University of New Mexico,University of Chicago Press,Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library
• Subject: Acculturation, contemporary social changes. (cultural action - rights of indigenous peoples ) / Anthropological museums / Anthropology / Cultural affiliation / Cultural anthropology / Cultural heritage / Cultural identity / Cultural institutions / Cultural repatriation / Ethnographic collections / Ethnology / Graves / Group identity / Haudenosaunee / Identity / Iroquois / Law / Linguistic anthropology / Museum anthropology / Museums / NAGPRA / Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act / Native Americans / North America / North Amerindians / Northeastern United States / Paleoanthropology / Political identity / Protection / Social Anthropology / Susquehannock / U.S.A / United States of America