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Aug. 3, 2005 (Radio Actualities)

SHI AWARDED GRANT TO ESTABLISH DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS FOR REPATRIATION

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has received a grant to establish a dispute-resolution process to resolve conflicts between clans over cultural objects.

The 18-month grant for $70,000 from the National Park Service, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) program, also will fund development of a website to serve as a clearinghouse of information on repatriation activities in Southeast Alaska.

SHI was directed to pursue the project in December by the Sealaska Council of Traditional Scholars, a panel of clan leaders and Elders who advise the institute on its language and culture programs. SHI will consult with the council and clan leaders throughout the region on the project.

“We would rather resolve our conflicts internally rather than have a museum sit in a position of having to make decisions about traditional laws that they don’t understand,” said Dr. Rosita Worl, president of SHI.

Historical accounts of explorers and traders concluded that at the time of first contact, the Tlingit were governed by an established legal system. Tlingit jurisprudence included traditional dispute processes and sanctions for violations, with punishments often taking the form of some type of payment levied against the transgressor’s clan. The American and Tlingit legal systems were very different, and the Tlingit expected the Euro-Americans to acknowledge, respect and abide by traditional Tlingit laws, including those governing ownership and use of property.

With the absorption of Tlingit culture into the American legal framework in 1867, many of the sanctions and other traditional dispute resolution processes were outlawed. These traditional legal premises and processes are still valid in today’s Tlingit world, but the repercussions and structures need to be modified to fit modern situations where disputes arise, Worl said.

Under the grant, SHI will work with the Council of Traditional Scholars and other clan leaders to formulate codes governing clan ownership of objects subject to repatriation under NAGPRA. These codes would be based on traditional laws and serve as a guide for Southeast Alaska Native groups. The codes will be sent to tribal governments in Southeast Alaska.

The Elders and clan leaders will then develop a dispute-resolution process to resolve conflicts between clans over repatriation of cultural objects.

In addition, SHI will establish a website that will include a directory of the 30 Southeast Alaska Native entities eligible to make repatriation claims, lists of current and past grant activities in the region, notices of intent to repatriate and an index of repatriation claims.

“We will be keeping people informed about our activities and we’re hoping other tribes will participate and share their information with us so all of our people will understand and know what’s going on in repatriation,” Worl said.

SHI also will refine and post a standard agreement form for possible use by clans and museums. Clans assume ownership of cultural objects repatriated under NAGPRA. However, some clans may elect to leave their repatriated objects in museums for safe-keeping, if they do not have safe storage in their communities. The form would authorize museums to curate and use repatriated objects under defined conditions and allow clans to withdraw objects for ceremonial purposes. The website also will include the final statutes and dispute resolution process plus information on the risk of handling repatriated objects treated with contaminants. Years ago, many museums preserved objects by using substances now known to be hazardous to human health.

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private, nonprofit founded in 1981 to administer cultural and educational programs for Sealaska Corp. The institute is governed by an all-Native board of trustees. Its mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska.
 

CONTACT: Rosita Worl, SHI President, 463-4844
 

Radio Actualities

1. Dr. Rosita Worl, SHI president, TRT:  :12 -- We would rather resolve our conflicts internally rather than having a museum sit in a position of having to make decisions about laws that they don’t understand. (Audio)
    
2. Dr. Rosita Worl, SHI president, TRT:  :15 -- We will be keeping people informed about our activities and we’re hoping other tribes will participate and share their information with us so all of our people will understand and know what’s going on in repatriation. (Audio)