Legal Research Reports: Protection of Indigenous Heritage

The Law Library of Congress is proud to present the report, Protection of Indigenous Heritage. 

This report surveys 11 jurisdictions on the legislative and policy frameworks affecting the protection of sacred places of indigenous peoples, their graves, remains, related artifacts, and indigenous cultural property generally. In the United States, a 1990 law, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) addresses the identification, repatriation, protection, regulated excavation, and custody of indigenous human remains and related cultural objects. The individual surveys in this report reflect research on whether there are corresponding laws in the selected jurisdictions similar to NAGPRA, and more generally discuss the protection of indigenous cultural patrimony.

This report is one of many prepared by the Law Library of Congress. Visit the Comprehensive Index of Legal Reports page for a complete listing of reports and the Current Legal Topics page for our highlighted and newer reports.