Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
Stan State is fully committed to the requirements of both the Federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA).
If you are a Tribe or Tribal affiliate and would like to discuss repatriation, please contact Jake Malsbury, NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA Repatriation Coordinator, at jmalsbury@csustan.edu or (209) 667-3201
What Is NAGPRA?
NAGPRA requires Federal agencies and institutions that receive Federal funds (including museums, universities, state agencies, and local governments) to repatriate or transfer Native American human remains and other cultural items to the appropriate parties by:
- Consulting with lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations on Native American human remains and other cultural items;
- Protecting and planning for Native American human remains and other cultural items that may be removed from Federal or tribal lands;
- Identifying and reporting all Native American human remains and other cultural items in inventories and summaries of holdings or collections; and
- Giving notice prior to repatriating or transferring human remains and other cultural items.
(Source: National Park Service)
What is CalNAGPRA?
In 2001, the State Legislature passed AB-978, the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001 (Steinberg, 2001), requiring all state agencies and museums that receive state funding and that have possession or control over collections of human remains or cultural items to provide a process for the identification and repatriation of these items to the appropriate tribes. The bill also created a Repatriation Oversight Commission with oversight authority. The intent of the legislation was to cover gaps in the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (Udall, 1990) specific to the State of California.
(Source: Native American Heritage Commission)
CSU Campus Collections
The CSU offers an interactive map that provides a quick reference to CSU campus NAGPRA collections by California Counties. For more information, please contact the respective campus coordinators.
Anonymous Reporting
As part of Stanislaus State's legal obligation under state and federal repatriation laws, and our ethical duty to our Tribal partners, we will regularly survey campus to ensure there are no unreported Native American ancestral remains and cultural objects that are the responsibility of the University. We have also established the form below to allow anyone to anonymously report at any time human remains and Native American cultural objects that they may have encountered during their work or studies at Stanislaus State. While the form below is anonymous, you may elect to provide contact information if you wish the NAGPRA Coordinator to follow up with you directly. All responses are confidential.
Updated: October 07, 2025