Tom, you point is indeed an important one. Not all human remains in museums are Native American or thereby subject to NAGPRA. I've worked on a number of cases over the years in which the remains were from other parts of the world or represented other ethnicities.

A forensic anthropologist or osteologist who has experience with human remains from many parts of the world,  may be able to help you.

Robert B. Pickering, PhD
Senior Curator
Gilcrease Museum
1400 N. Gilcrease Museum Rd
Tulsa, OK  74127
(918) 596-2706 Office
(918) 596-2770 Fax
(918) 805-4780 Cell
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-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Thomas W Kavanagh
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 7:24 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Genetic Testing of Archaeological Specimens for NAGPRA relevance

The  point is: we don't know that these remains are indeed Native. That's what we want to find out.

tk

________________________________________
From: Museum discussion list [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Peterson [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 3:27 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Genetic Testing of Archaeological Specimens for NAGPRA relevance

Actually, you won't have to resort to DNA or any other sort of expensive testing. I believe that since tribal affiliation is unknown, you'll have to consult with all tribes known to have existed in the area of your collection(s) (your SHPO should be able to give you a list of all tribes and that tribal representative(s) you'll need to contact along with contact information). Then you'll have to send a letter to each tribe. From that point, the ball is in the tribes' court. In many parts of the country, there are agreements among tribes as to who gets the unknown/unaffiliated remains (often it's the tribe that has the longest antiquity in the area).

Your SHPO will be able to give you more specific and better information than I have.

John

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