San Francisco State University (SFSU)
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Program (NAGPRA)
SFSU is firmly committed to the repatriation of Native American human remains and cultural items whenever possible and to the respectful curation of cultural materials at all times. The primary goal of the SFSU NAGPRA Program is to return ancestral remains and cultural objects to Native American communities.
San Francisco State University has served as a repository for Native American and other cultural materials for over
50 years (click here to see
the timeline). The NAGPRA Program is responsible for items from approximately 500 Native American and non-Native American cultural sites located in 33 counties in California. A smaller number of items originate from Oregon and Nevada.
SFSU is responsible for the custody of 40 collections containing human remains and associated funerary objects or groups of items organized according to their original geographical location.
The SFSU NAGPRA Program began in 1996. SFSU NAGPRA Summaries, Inventories, Notices, and Culturally Unidentifiable Native American Inventory have been submitted to the National NAGPRA Program. NAGPRA compliance is an ongoing process at SFSU. All of our documents are subject to change as tribal groups become federally recognized, NAGPRA laws are revised, and collection records are updated.
