Following is the press release for the new members of the Native
          American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee
          (United States).  It has been sent out to numerous
          discussion lists so please excuse cross-postings.  We sent
          this press release out last week but there was some sort of
          transmission problem and the resulting post was quite
          difficult to read -- I hope this time things work better.

          DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PRESS RELEASE:

          Interior Secretary Babbitt Appoints Members of the Native
          American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee

        Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt announced the appointment
     of five private citizens as members of the Native American Graves
     Protection and Repatriation Review Committee. Appointments to the
     committee were selected from nominations the Secretary received from
     Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and national museum and
     scientific organizations.

        "The issues before this very talented committee are challenging and
     complex," Babbitt noted.  "I look forward to their recommendations as
     we work to develop a process for disposition of culturally
     unidentifiable Native American human remains."

        Two original members were reappointed for three year terms to
     ensure the committee's continuity:

        Dr. Tessie Naranjo is a tribal member of Santa Clara Pueblo in New
     Mexico, where she has lived most of her life. She is a founding board
     member of the Keepers of the Treasures, a native cultural council
     dedicated to the preservation, celebration, and enhancement of Native
     American cultural heritage. She served as committee chair since 1993.

        Dr. Martin Sullivan is director of the Heard Museum in Phoenix,
     Arizona. In 1995, he was appointed by President Clinton to a four-year
     term as chair of the President's Advisory Committee on Cultural
     Property which advises the State Department and the Customs Service in
     implementation of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Property. He is
     also a founding trustee of the American Indian Ritual Object
     Repatriation Foundation.

        Three new members were appointed for six year terms:

        Dr. James Bradley is director of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of
     Archaeology at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He is an
     archeologist and historian, with special interests in native peoples
     of the Northeast and in Native American metallurgy. He serves on the
     Committee on Repatriation of the Society for American Archaeology.

        Mr. Armand Minthorn serves on the board of trustees of the
     Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He helped
     establish Tamustilik (the Umatilla Tribal Cultural Center) and the
     Umatilla Cultural Resource Protection Program. He serves as the
     northwest area representative to the Commission on Repatriation and
     Burial Sites Protection of the National Congress of American Indians.
     He is a traditional religious leader of the Umatilla Longhouse.

        Dr. John O'Shea is curator of Great Lakes Archaeology and Professor
     of Anthropology at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology.
     He has studied issues of archeological site complexity and variation
     in both the United States and Europe, with special emphasis on
     funerary practices.

        The seven member committee -- including Mr. Lawrence Hart, a
     Southern Cheyenne traditional religious leader appointed in 1996, and
     a yet to be named seventh member to be appointed by the Secretary from
     a list prepared by the current six members -- is charged with
     monitoring, reviewing, and assisting in implementation of certain
     requirements of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
     Act.

        The Act requires that federal agencies and museums that receive
     federal funds provide information about Native American human remains,
     funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony in
     their collections to lineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native
     Hawaiian organizations and repatriate those items in certain
     circumstances. The law also provides additional protection for Native
     American graves on federal or tribal lands.

          Mandy Murphy
          [log in to unmask]
          NAGPRA Consultant
          National Park Service
          Archeology & Ethnography Program
          Washington, DC