Hypothesis

Native American Nations of New York do not hold all of the human remains and associated funerary objects within their land, because Federal agencies or non-Federal institutions continue to have possession or control over large collections of their ancestors and possessions.

Question

How may a series of Geographic Information System (GIS) maps depict the Federal agencies or non-Federal institutions that have possession or control over collections that contain human remains and associated funerary objects of Native Americans of New York?

Methodology

1.Native American Nations of New York: Historical and Present Day Context

A limited historical reference of Native American Nations of New York is provided to locate the original inhabitants. Native Languages of the Americas (2015) states that it is necessary to expand this historical reference and refer to the movement of these nations across different territories over the course of many years.

Present day Native American Nations of New York are represented by tribal leaders and NAGPRA contacts listed on the Native American Consultation Database (National Park Service, 2015a). The database is not a comprehensive source of information, because the legal framework of NAGPRA does not apply to non-federally recognized Native American groups.

2.Inventories of Federal Agencies or Non-Federal Institutions

According to the NAGPRA regulations (Office of the Law Revision Council of the United States House of Representatives, 1990), the purpose of the inventory is to facilitate repatriation by providing clear descriptions of human remains and associated funerary objects and establishing the cultural affiliation between these objects and present-day Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian nations. The Federal agencies or non-Federal institutions must ensure that these requirements are met for all collections from their lands or generated by their actions whether the collections are held by the Federal agency or by a non-Federal institution.

The current inventories that contain human remains and associated funerary objects of Native Americans of New York are displayed in Excel Spreadsheets and the information was downloaded in April 2016 from the Culturally Affiliated Native American Inventories Database (National Park Service. US Department of Interior, 2015b). Updated publications of similar institutions may be searched in the Notice of Inventory Completion Database.At the same time, notices of active repatriation claims by Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian nations may be viewed at the Notice of Intent to Repatriate Database, while all other repatriation processes that have taken place are available at the Federal Register.

3. GIS Maps

The series of maps were designed with QGIS, a free open-source desktop geographic information system (GIS) application that provides data viewing, editing, and analysis (Wikipedia, 2015). The software was downloaded from the QGIS’ official site (QQIS, 2016).

The maps include the following information and location drawn from the Native Languages of the Americas (2015) and the Culturally Affiliated Native American Inventories Database (National Park Service. US Department of Interior, 2015a and 2015b.

Historical reference of Native American Nations of New York
Sovereign Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi
Cayuga Nation (and Cayuga “generic”)
Delaware Nation
Oneida Nation of New York
Onondaga Nation (previously listed as Onondaga Nation of New York)
Seneca Nation of Indians (previously listed as Seneca Nation of New York)
Seneca Tribe of Indians
Shinnecock Indian Nation
St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians
Tonawanda Band of Seneca
Tuscarora Nation (previously listed as Tuscarora Nation of New York)

The basemap of all the maps referred to the 2015 United States Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles (United States Census Bureau, n.d.).

Conclusions

The series of maps provide sufficient evidence to prove the hypothesis, because a many Federal agencies or non-Federal institutions throughout the country continue to have possession or control over large collections of human remains and associated funerary objects of Native American Nations of New York.

Within this context, a total of 1,051 human remains and 77,890 associated funerary objects of Native American Nations of New York were identified in the NAGPRA inventories.

References

Cryne, J. NAGPRA Revisited: A Twenty-Year Review of Repatriation Efforts. American Indian Law Review, Vol. 34, No.1 (2009-2010).

Federal Register. (May 4, 2016). Bureau of Indian Affairs of the US Department of Interior, Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, Vol. 81, No. 86. Retrieved from https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-05-04/pdf/2016-10408.pdf

Madesen, F. (May 5, 2016). After 25 Years of NAGPRA: Moving Beyond Paralysis in Indian Country. Retrieved from http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/05/05/after-25-years-nagpra-moving-beyond-paralysis-164349

National Congress of American Indians (n.d.). An Introduction to Indian Nations in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.ncai.org/about-tribes/indians_101.pdf, p.2-9.

National Park Service. US Department of Interior. (2015a). Native American Consultation Database (NACD). Tribal Leaders Directory. Retrieved from http://www.bia.gov/cs/groups/xois/documents/document/idc1-028053.pdf

National Park Service. US Department of Interior. (2015b). Culturally Affiliated Native American Inventories Database. Retrieved from http://grantsdev.cr.nps.gov/Nagpra/CAI/

Native Languages of the Americas. (2015). Native American Tribes of New York. Retrieved from http://www.native-languages.org/york.htm#reservations

Office of the Law Revision Council of the United States House of Representatives, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, Pub. L.101-601,104 Stat.3048, http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=104&page=3048#, accessed 20 November 2015).

Office of the Law Revision Council of the United States House of Representatives, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation, 25 C.F.R. § § 3001-3013. http://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title25/chapter32&edition=prelim (accessed 20 November 2015).

QGIS. (2 March 2016). Mac Installer Package for both OS X Mavericks (10.9), Mountain Lion (10.8) and Lion (10.7). Retrieved from http://www.kyngchaos.com/software/qgis

United States Census Bureau.(n.d.). United States Cartographic Boundary Shapefiles. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cbf/cbf_counties.html

United States Government Accountability Office. (July 2010) Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. After Almost 20 Years, Key Federal Agencies Still Have Not Fully Complied with the Act. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/assets/310/307856.pdf

Wikipedia. (14 April 2015). QGIS. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QGIS

Wikipedia. (5 May 2016). Wix.com. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wix.com

Wix.com. (2016). Main Page. Retrieved from http://www.wix.com

Background

Kirsten Grünberg

Final Project

May 2016

Professor Jeremiah Trinidad-Christensen

LIS 687: Geographic Information Systems

Section: LIS-687-01

Graduate Program

School of Information

Pratt Institute

New York

Note

The information provided is a summary of the final paper