§3002 Ownership

Summary

Says who owns or controls Native American cultural items found on Federal or tribal land after November 16, 1990. Human remains and the items buried with them go first to the lineal descendants. If no descendants can be found, or for unassociated funerary items, sacred objects, and items of cultural patrimony, ownership goes in order to the tribe or Native Hawaiian organization on whose land they were found, or to the tribe with the closest cultural connection that claims them, or, if the connection can’t be figured out and the land was earlier recognized by a court as a tribe’s original land, to that tribe. You must follow rules made by the Secretary (after consulting a review committee, Native groups, museums, and scientists) for items not claimed under the above order. People may only dig up or remove these items with the proper federal permit, after consulting or getting consent from the tribe or Native Hawaiian organization when required, and they must show proof of that consultation. If someone finds items after November 16, 1990, they must stop work in the area, protect the finds, and give written notice to the federal agency and the appropriate tribe or Alaska Native corporation; work may resume 30 days after the agency or tribe confirms it got the notice. The Interior Secretary can take on duties for other agencies if those agencies agree, and a tribe or Native Hawaiian organization may choose to give up control or title to items.