NAGPRA Training

Introductory title image for the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior and the National Center for Cultural Resources to include the official arrowhead of the National Park Service

The National NAGPRA title image on a green background with an historic image of native baskets next to water and reed-type river grass - image by Edward S. Curtis, courtesy of NPS

NAGPRA Training

NAGPRA Training Videos
NAGPRA Basics Training
NAGPRA Webinars
Additional NAGPRA Trainings

Below is a list of training opportunities available through the National NAGPRA Program or its partners. Sign up for future notifications upcoming of training opportunities.

NAGPRA Training Videos
The NAGPRA Video Project began in October 2008 with the mission to create a training series that would include grant-writing tips, first-person narratives, program statistics, anecdotal evidence, and in-depth, engaging coverage of the entirety of the law and its consequences. The National NAGPRA Program has conducted fifty interviews in ten cities across the country. These interviews with tribal members, museum officials and Federal agency representatives have created a historic archive of resources on consultation, grants, notices, law making, dispositions, documentation and repatriation.

Production on the NAGPRA Video series is complete. Some of the videos have been shown to the Review Committee. The segment “History of NAGPRA” premiered during the NAGPRA at 20 Symposium. The entire eight-segment series is now available to the public on demand, through the National NAGPRA Program YouTube Channel. Click on any of the titles listed below to access our on-demand videos:

NAGPRA Notices
This video provides an overview of NAGPRA Notices. A NAGPRA Notice is a printed announcement of a Federal agency or museum's decision on Native American human remains and cultural items. A NAGPRA Notice either establishes the rights of tribes to request human remains or reflects the agreement to transfer control of Native American cultural items. Two types of Notices will be discussed, Notices of Inventory Completion and Notices of Intent to Repatriation cultural items, and review what information each type of notice should contain. Also, this segment will go through the publication of a NAGPRA notice. NAGPRA was created to address the rights of lineal descendants, Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to Native American human remains and cultural items.

NAGPRA Grants
The video will review the NAGPRA Grants Program, discuss two types of grants offered, and review grant supported activities. Hear from successful grant applicants and NAGPRA Grants panelists on how to strengthen your application, and get tips for strengthening your grant application. The grant review process will be described as well. The heart of the NAGPRA process is the relationship building that occurs between museums and tribes. Through NAGPRA, tribes, museums, and federal agencies can come together to better understand and care for Native American collections. NAGPRA also provides a way to return Native American human remains and cultural items that protect the integrity of museums, federal agencies, and tribes and insures that human remains and cultural items are returned in culturally and spiritually appropriate ways. The NAGPRA Grants program exists to support these efforts.

Consultation under NAGPRA
The goal of this video is to explain how the term "consultation" is defined under NAGPRA, review NAGPRA's requirements for consultation, and provide you with guidelines and suggestions toward successful consultation. By the end of the video, we hope to have explained why consultation is such a critical component of NAGPRA, what to expect from consultation, when to schedule a consultation, and how to make the most of consultation.

Decision-making under NAGPRA
This video will explain what evidence is used to determine cultural affiliation by a museum or federal agency under NAGPRA, discuss how a decision is reached, and review what occurs when there is a dispute over a finding. Federal agencies and museums must comply with NAGPRA if they have possession or control over native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. For purposes of NAGPRA, federal agencies do not include the Smithsonian Institution. Museums under NAGPRA are any institution or State or local government agency (including any institution of higher learning) that receives Federal funds and has possession of, or control over, Native American cultural items.

NAGPRA Civil Penalties
NAGPRA Civil Penalties narrated by Bob Palmer, NAGPRA Civil Penalties Investigator. This video will take you through the NAGPRA civil penalty investigative process. Discuss ways in which a museum can fail to comply with the Act, how to file an allegation against a museum, the museum's rights in a proceeding, and what's involved in the civil penalty stage of the process.

NAGPRA Review Committee
The Review Committee was created by Congress to advise both the Secretary of the Interior and Congress on the implementation of NAGPRA. In this video, you will hear from past and present Review Committee members about membership and responsibilities, watch an actual dispute before a Review Committee, along with the Committee's deliberation, findings of fact, and recommendations, and listen to members' personal perspectives on working relationships, consensus, and emerging issues in NAGPRA. By the end of the video, you will understand the role the Review Committee plays in NAGPRA and the ways the Review Committee can help you in the NAGPRA compliance process.

The Development of NAGPRA
This DVD explores the significant events that led to the passage of NAGPRA, and highlights NAGPRA's significance for Native Americans, museums and the scientific community today.

NAGPRA
NAGPRA in a nutshell. Short Takes: A composite of interviews with NAGPRA constituents.

NAGPRA Basics Training
NAGPRA Basics training covers the background of NAGPRA, the consultation and decision making process, notices, grants, and civil penalties. Both new and veteran NAGPRA practitioners have found this training to be helpful in their work. NAGPRA Basics is now available on demand through the courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

NAGPRA Basics
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NAGPRA Webinars
The National NAGPRA Program is offering a series of webinars on various topics related to the implementation of NAGPRA. The webinars are free, and we encourage you to register early. For those who have not participated in a webinar, you will need a computer with internet access and a phone (preferably a speaker phone with muting capabilities – no cell phones, please). You will be taken through a written presentation on your computer and be able to hear, ask questions and participate in the discussion over the phone. Essentially, you will receive a full training without leaving your desk. Plus, you can have as many people gather around your phone and computer as you like. For those without computer access, you may register for a webinar and access the session by phone only, using a paper copy or electronic copy of the materials to follow the written presentation. Please advise us when you register if you will need a copy of the materials in order to follow the written presentation.

Webinar Registration
To register, click on the event registration link under each webinar description. Once registered, you will receive an email response with information for accessing the webinar. Instructions for joining the meeting and support for technical assistance will be in your registration email. Please save the email you receive after registering. If you need technical assistance with registration, please email NAGPRA_info@nps.gov. Include the name and date of the webinar in the subject line.

Recorded Webinars
Since July 2012, some webinars will be available for viewing on demand. Recorded live, these 60 to 90 minute presentations allow viewers to experience the original sessions. View the list of past webinars and descriptions.

Additional NAGPRA Trainings

National Preservation Institute
The National NAGPRA Program has partnered with the National Preservation Institute (NPI) to offer in-depth training on various issues related to NAGPRA implementation. Open to Federal agencies, museums, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and others interested in NAGPRA, these trainings are designed to provide participants with practical knowledge and tools needed to support their NAGPRA efforts.

Through a cooperative agreement between the National Park Service and the National Preservation Institute, scholarships and travel grants are available through NPI, as long as funds are available, for the NPI training seminars listed below.

SCHOLARSHIPS
Staff and volunteers who work on NAGPRA programs for Native Hawaiian organizations and Federally recognized Indian tribes (including Alaska Native villages) may apply for scholarships to attend any NPI seminar listed below. An organization or tribe may apply to send up to two scholarship recipients to each seminar. Staff who work for museums with annual operating budgets of $500,000 or less may apply for scholarships to attend NAGPRA Essentials and NAGPRA: Preparing for and Writing Grant Proposals. A museum may apply to send up to two scholarship recipients to each seminar.

To apply for a scholarship and travel grant, click here.

NOTE: Staff and volunteers of organizations, tribes, or museums whose active NAGPRA consultation/documentation grant includes dedicated training funds are not eligible to apply for these scholarships.

TRAVEL GRANTS
Travel grants may be available for scholarship recipients attending NAGPRA: Preparing for and Writing Grant Proposals. Payment in the amount of $500 per scholarship recipient will be made out to the attendee's Native Hawaiian organization, Indian tribe, or museum after completion of the training seminar; there are no exceptions to this payment schedule. The organization is responsible for any reimbursement of the attendee's travel costs using these funds. An organization, tribe, or museum may receive only one $500 travel grant.

SEMINARS

Conflict Management and Negotiation Tools for Cultural and Natural Resource Managers
Description: Laws and regulations related to cultural and natural resources often require participatory processes that can be mired in conflict and misunderstanding. Projects frequently can more effectively navigated when stakeholders use collaborative processes and mutual gains negotiation during consultation to resolve problems and develop win-win solutions. Through interactive exercises and role plays, learn to understand conflict management styles, practice negotiation skills, and design a stakeholder consultation process to address issues in a timely manner and prevent conflict from escalating.