Day of Prayer in Resistance at Hearst Museum

WHO: National NAGPRA Coalition and social justice allies are holding a peaceful prayer vigil to demand a reversal to the decision that has excluded Native Americans from the decision making process and for University of California Berkeley to immediately comply with the law. National NAGPRA Coalition members, American Indian Movement Co-Founder Dennis Banks, Jimbo Simmons of the International Indian Treaty Council and all Indigenous Peoples and Social Justice Allies are urged to participate.

WHAT: Prayer Vigil to be held on Dia de los Muertos for the 13,000 remains housed at UC Berkeley to be returned to Indigenous Nations.

WHERE: Hearst Museum at University of California, Berkeley, (Bancroft and Telegraph Way)

WHEN: Friday, November 2, at 10 AM

WHY: Hearst Museum may temporarily control ancestral remains and sacred objects but control does not constitute ownership. Native American remains and sacred objects belong to Native Americans! Hearst Museum is out of compliance with federal NAGPRA laws and continues to ignore Native Peoples. The right to control ancestral remains is a basic human entitlement that nearly all groups in the United States are afforded except Natives. The NAGPRA cut directly undermines Native American cultural integrity, trampling their right to religious freedom. Native Americans tribal rights must be respected when any institution makes a critical decision affecting ancestral remains, and this is especially true of UC Berkeley, which controls the second largest Native American collection in the Nation. If the Berkeley precedent stands, other Universities and Museums will follow suit. NAGPRA Coalition has already received calls from Native Americans at institutions where officials are looking to UC Berkeley for guidance.

The University of California Berkeley's (UCB) Hearst Museum has terminated the critically important Tribal consultation and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) program at the university. NAGPRA is a federal law that was intended by Congress to redress the injustice of Natives not being able to control their ancestral remains and requires Museums, including the Hearst Museum, to repatriate human remains for reburial by tribes. In addition the museum is required to consult with culturally affiliated Indian tribes, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians regarding repatriation.

According to Mark LeBeau, citizen of Pit River Nation, "UCB completely and deliberately excluded all Natives from the secretive review process that eliminated the NAGPRA program, and did so in spite of strenuous protests by tribes and other Native Americans." The NAGPRA program at UCB is responsible for insuring the museum complies with the Act and repatriate items when appropriate. The Hearst Museum houses human remains from approximately 13,000 biological individuals, according to LeBeau. These remains have significant spiritual and cultural value to many tribes.

NANC members urged other tribes to join the Coalition and all Americans to insist that public officials redress the longstanding injustice that allows Museums and scientists to keep huge collections of Native American remains and conduct research often violates tribal religious beliefs.

Tribes and individuals can add their voices by contacting congressional and state representatives; by writing or calling Provost Rori Hume at the University of California Office of the President, 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94607, (510) 987- 9220; or by writing or calling the Governor and other University Regents at the addresses listed at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/contact.html.

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

See Press Release and Letter to Provost Hume attached.

For additional information on the UCB NAGPRA issue, visit http://nagpra-ucb-faq.blogspot.com and http://nagpra-ucb.blogspot.com .