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Committee adopts requirement for tribal match in $500,000 NAGPRA compliance grant
Summary
Representatives advanced House Bill 1603 to fund NAGPRA compliance with a $500,000 state pool that requires tribes to provide dollar-for-dollar matching, after the Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment changing permissive language to a requirement.
Representative Austin Schauer, District 13 (West Fargo), presented House Bill 1603 as amended, a $500,000 maximum matching grant to help implement the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and North Dakota compliance. The funds would be divided among the state’s five federally recognized tribes (up to $100,000 per tribe) and directed to the State Historical Society to establish a NAGPRA compliance committee that includes representatives of the historical society, tribal historic preservation offices and the attorney general’s office.
Why it matters: A 2023 U.S. Interior Department rule change altered tribal authority, consent requirements, inventories and transparency for repatriation, increasing workload for institutions and tribes. Proponents said state funding would pay for staff, training and consulting to identify, inventory and repatriate human remains and cultural items held in collections.
The committee…
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