Especially within the Museum's founding collections, many objects entered the Museum’s care through European and American colonial pathways. Some objects are known, or believed, to have been acquired through unfair trade practices, removed without permission, or taken during military activities or colonial projects. Research into these objects is ongoing, if you have any information or questions regarding specific works, please reach out to fleming@uvm.edu.

Originally published in 2020 to provide online access to objects for academic courses, Museum staff and student interns continue to add and update entries regularly. We are working on providing more high-resolution images and improving the recorded data to better reflect our current cataloging standards.

What is NAGPRA? 

NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) is a federal law enacted in 1990 and administered by the National Park Service that requires museums to identify Native American human remains and cultural items in their collections. And the law provides a process for federally recognized Indian tribes, Alaska Native corporations, and Native Hawaiian organizations to request the return of those ancestors and cultural items.

What are the new NAGPRA regulations? 

In January 2024, new NAGPRA regulations were enacted. Museums must now consult with the above-mentioned communities to obtain consent before exhibiting, accessing, and researching cultural items and defer to them when consulting about items and return requests.

About NAGPRA at the Fleming Museum of Art 

Since 1990, the Fleming has followed NAGPRA regulations by reporting culturally affiliated human remains and cultural items to the appropriate communities. The Museum has also responded to claims for information and repatriation from tribal representatives.

We are currently reviewing the new NAGPRA rules to determine how they will impact museum practices moving forward. We plan to remove items that may fall under the new guidelines from display in our Native American Gallery. They include objects of the Plains tribes that were collected by a U.S. military officer (1879—82), pottery made by unrecorded Pueblo artists, and a carving made by a Native artist of the Northwest Coast.

Our Commitment 

In our ongoing NAGPRA work, as in our day-to-day activities, we embrace the values of building trust and maintaining transparency. Your feedback is always welcome and can be shared by email at fleming@uvm.edu.