Heritage Voices · The Archaeology Podcast Network

The Intensive NAGPRA Summer Training and Education Program (INSTEP) - Ep 79

·53 min·3 clips

TSA screening can become part of repatriation work, down to calling TSA Cares and arranging a private room.

1. Heritage Voices episode 79 focuses on the Intensive NAGPRA Summer Training and Education Program, or INSTEP, at Indiana University Bloomington. 2. Host Jessica Uquinto speaks with Jane Lee Thomas, the NAGPRA director at Indiana University, and Chance Ward, the new NAGPRA coordinator for History Colorado, both of whom work directly with repatriation and compliance. 3. The episode asks what NAGPRA training is for, and Jane Lee Thomas frames it as a response to the lack of formal preparation for people expected to do this work. 4. Jane Lee Thomas defines NAGPRA as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act passed on November 16th, 1990, and says it is a human rights law. 5. She explains that NAGPRA covers Native American and Native Hawaiian ancestral remains, belongings, objects of cultural patrimony, and sacred objects. 6. Thomas says the summer program was funded as part of a Werner Grand project focused on the ethical treatment of human remains. 7. She says there are no master's degrees in NAGPRA, compliance work, or repatriation, and only very limited semester-long courses. 8. Thomas argues that many students are taught NAGPRA by faculty who have never done NAGPRA and have no experience working with Indigenous communities. 9. She says the program was also designed for federal agents, tribal elders, tribal archaeologists, graduate students, undergraduates, and current faculty members. 10. Thomas describes the application process as a 100-word to 200-word statement about why the training was needed for each applicant's work. 11. She says the organizers expected 10 to 15 people, received nearly 100 applicants, and ultimately took 40 participants. 12. Thomas says all Native American applicants were accepted, and five Native American individuals taught parts of the training. 13. The training included a welcome breakfast, lunches hosted by the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center, and a week of full-day sessions. 14. Thomas says her sessions covered NAGPRA 101, consultation, repatriation, reburial, and the idea that tribes should be in the driver's seat. 15. She uses the Angel Mounds repatriation completed in 2021 as a case study for a step-by-step repatriation process. 16. Thomas details escort logistics, including TSA Cares, contacting TSA in advance, private screening, tribal letters, and deferring to tribal preferences for travel. 17. Chance Ward says his background at Fort Lewis, the University of Colorado, CRM work, and an internship at History Colorado did not include formal NAGPRA training. 18. Ward says the in-person week mattered because group discussions, shared meals, trivia nights, bowling, and rotating tables helped people build a support network. 19. The episode would fit listeners who work in museums, archaeology, tribal offices, or NAGPRA compliance. 20. It may not suit listeners who want a general archaeology episode without policy and logistics.

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