[Audit Report on Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Activities, Bureau of Land Management]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
Report No. 00-i-377
Title: Audit Report on Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Activities, Bureau of Land Management
Date: May 5, 2000
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U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of Inspector General
AUDIT REPORT
NATIVE AMERICAN GRAVES PROTECTION
AND REPATRIATION ACTIVITIES,
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
REPORT NO. 00-I-377
MAY 2000
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Activities, Bureau of Land Management (No. 00-i-377)
BACKGROUND
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for managing
and protecting about 260 million acres of public land, including
the archaeological and historical resources derived from that
land. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
(NAGPRA), which is implemented through the Code of Federal
Regulations (43 CFR 10), requires each Federal agency that has
possession of or control over collections of human remains and
associated funerary objects to compile an inventory, including
geographic origin and Native American cultural affiliation (if
determinable), of such remains and objects. Additionally, the
process of identification and cultural affiliation occurs through
consultation with the Native American tribes to facilitate
repatriation when requested by the respective tribes. Further,
43 CFR 10 requires Federal agencies to submit a Notice of
Inventory Completion to the Department of the Interior Consulting
Archaeologist and a copy of the Notice to the respective Native
American tribe upon determining the cultural affiliation of any
human remains or associated funerary objects. Thereafter, the
Notice is published in the "Federal Register" to give formal
notification that the human remains and associated funerary
objects have been identified and may be returned to the
affiliated Native Americans.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the audit was to determine whether BLM complied
with the requirements of NAGPRA and related Code of Federal
Regulations and Department of the Interior policies.
RESULTS IN BRIEF
We found that overall, BLM had made significant progress in
complying with the requirements of NAGPRA. Specifically, BLM
located and determined tribal affiliation for about 90 percent of
the Native American human remains included in its museum
collections. However, the Utah State Office had made minimal
progress in completing the required NAGPRA process in Utah, and
BLM Colorado State officials allowed Native American remains to
be reburied on BLM-managed public land in Colorado, even though a
BLM instruction memorandum prohibits such reburials. These
deficiencies occurred because the Utah State Office did not
identify the NAGPRA requirements as a high priority activity and
provide the resources needed to accomplish the effort by the
NAGPRA-required date of November 16, 1995. Also, BLM
senior-level managers did not monitor and enforce BLM's policy
regarding public land reburials. As a result, Native American
remains have not been repatriated timely in Utah; tribes and
Native Americans may not be able to control remains reburied on
public land; and BLM Colorado officials may not be able to
adequately protect these reburied remains from vandalism,
degradation, and theft.
RECOMMENDATIONS
We recommended that BLM develop and implement a plan for the Utah
State Office to ensure completion of NAGPRA requirements in an
expeditious manner and ensure compliance with BLM policy
regarding the prohibition of reburying Native American remains on
BLM-managed lands.
AUDITEE COMMENTS AND OIG EVALUATION
BLM concurred with the report's two recommendations. Based on
BLM's response and subsequent information, we considered one
recommendation resolved and implemented and the other
recommendation resolved but not implemented.
C-IN-BLM-003-98(A)-D
AUDIT REPORT
Memorandum
To: Director, Bureau of Land Management
From: Roger La Rouche
Acting Assistant Inspector General for Audits
Subject: Audit Report on Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Activities, Bureau of Land
Management (No. 00-i-377)
INTRODUCTION
This report presents the results of our audit of the Bureau of
Land Management's (BLM) Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) activities. The objective of the audit
was to determine whether BLM complied with the requirements of
NAGPRA (25 U.S.C. *3001-3013), enacted in 1990, and related Code
of Federal Regulations and Department of the Interior policies.
This report is the second of two reports we have issued
concerning BLM's Cultural Resource Management Program. The first
report, "Cultural Resource Management, Bureau of Land Management"
(No. 99-I-808), was issued in September 1999 (see Prior Audit
Coverage).
BACKGROUND
BLM is responsible for managing and protecting about 260 million
acres of public land, including the archaeological and historical
resources derived from that land. According to BLM officials,
BLM and its predecessor organization, the General Land Office,
authorized the collection of millions of archaeological and
paleontological objects[1] from the public land. These objects
were deposited mainly into about 189 non-Federal repositories,
including museums, universities, and historical societies located
in 34 states and Canada. BLM maintains about 3.5 million museum
objects located primarily in two BLM museum facilities: the
Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, Colorado, and the Billings
Curation Center in Billings, Montana.
NAGPRA, which is implemented through 43 CFR 10, requires each
Federal agency that has possession of or control over collections
of human remains and associated funerary objects to compile an
inventory, including geographic origin and Native American
cultural affiliation[2] (if determinable), of such remains and
objects. Additionally, the process of identification and
cultural affiliation occurs through consultation[3] with the
Native American tribes to facilitate repatriation[4] when
requested by the respective tribes. Further, 43 CFR 10 requires
Federal agencies to submit a Notice of Inventory Completion to
the Departmental Consulting Archaeologist and a copy of the
Notice to the respective Native American tribe upon determining
the cultural affiliation of any human remains or associated
funerary objects. Thereafter, the Notice is published in the
"Federal Register" to give formal notification that the human
remains and associated funerary objects have been identified and
may be returned to the affiliated Native Americans.
SCOPE OF AUDIT
To accomplish our objective, we visited or contacted personnel in
BLM's headquarters, BLM state or field offices, BLM's Anasazi
Heritage Center museum, and the Office of the Departmental
Consulting Archaeologist to obtain information and data regarding
BLM's efforts to comply with the requirements of NAGPRA (offices
and sites visited are listed in Appendix 1). We also obtained
information from Indian tribes through a questionnaire regarding
their satisfaction with BLM's efforts to comply with NAGPRA.
Additionally, we contacted other BLM offices and officials as
needed to accomplish the audit objective.
Our audit, which was conducted during April through September
1999, was made in accordance with the "Government Auditing
Standards," issued by the Comptroller General of the United
States. Accordingly, we included such tests of records and other
auditing procedures that were considered necessary to accomplish
our audit objective. As part of our audit, we evaluated the
system of internal controls to the extent that we considered
necessary. We found internal control weaknesses in BLM's
compliance with NAGPRA requirements in the State of Utah and with
the Colorado State Office's public land reburial actions. These
weaknesses are addressed in the Results of Audit section of this
report. Our recommendations, if implemented, should improve the
internal controls in these areas.
We also reviewed the Departmental Report on Accountability for
fiscal year 1998, which includes information required by the
Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act of 1982, and BLM's 1998
Annual Report to determine whether any reported weaknesses were
within the objective and scope of our audit. We found that
neither report identified weaknesses in BLM's activities
regarding NAGPRA.
PRIOR AUDIT COVERAGE
The General Accounting Office has not issued any audit reports
during the past 5 years on BLM's NAGPRA activities. The Office
of Inspector General has issued one report during the past 5
years regarding BLM's Cultural Resource Management Program, which
includes NAGPRA activities. The report, "Cultural Resource
Management, Bureau of Land Management" (No. 99-I-808), issued in
September 1999, stated that BLM did not adequately (1) survey the
public land to determine the location, nature, and extent of
culturally significant sites and (2) control and account for its
museum collections. The report contained four recommendations to
improve BLM's cultural resources management, which BLM agreed to
implement.
RESULTS OF AUDIT
We found that overall, BLM had made significant progress in
complying with the requirements of NAGPRA. Specifically, BLM
located and determined tribal affiliation for about 90 percent of
the Native American human remains included in its museum
collections. However, the Utah State Office had made minimal
progress in completing the required NAGPRA process in Utah, and
BLM Colorado State officials allowed Native American remains to
be reburied on BLM-managed public land in Colorado, even though
BLM Instruction Memorandum (IM) 98-131 prohibits such reburials.
These deficiencies occurred because the Utah State Office did not
identify the NAGPRA requirements as a high priority activity and
provide the resources needed to accomplish the effort by the
NAGPRA-required date of November 16, 1995, and because BLM
senior-level managers did not monitor and enforce BLM's policy
regarding public land reburials. As a result, Native American
remains have not been repatriated timely in Utah; tribes and
Native Americans may not be able to control remains reburied on
public land; and BLM Colorado officials may not be able to
adequately protect these reburied remains from vandalism,
degradation, and theft.
NAGPRA Activities
We found that as of September 1, 1999, BLM had located and
identified the human remains of 2,256 individuals[5] in its
museum collections of cultural objects. The status of these
human remains from BLM-managed public land is in Table 1.
**FOOTNOTES**
[1]:These objects include human remains and funerary objects.
According to 43 CFR 10.2(d)(2), funerary objects are "items that,
as part of the death rite or ceremony of a culture, are
reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally at the time
of death or later with or near the individual human remains."
[2]:According to 43 CFR 10.2(e), cultural affiliation is "a
relationship of shared group identity which can reasonably be
traced historically or prehistorically between members of a
present-day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization and an
identifiable earlier group."
[3]:NAGPRA requires Federal officials to consult with Indian
tribal officials, traditional religious leaders, or known lineal
descendants regarding the identification, affiliation, and
repatriation of Native American remains and related cultural
objects. BLM Manual Handbook H-8160-1 states that "consultation
is the active, affirmative process of: (1) identifying and
seeking input from appropriate Native American governing bodies,
community groups, and individuals; and (2) considering their
interests as a necessary and integral part of the BLM's
decision-making process."
[4]:Repatriation is the actual transfer of custody to new owners
(lineal descendants or tribal officials).
[5]:According to BLM's National Curator, "individual" represents
human remains that have been determined to be from one individual
and may be a complete skeleton but is more likely to be
fragmentary remains.
Table 1. Native American Human Remains in BLM Possession or
Control*(As of September 1999)
Tribal Affiliation Unaffiliated Affiliated Affiliated But
State Individuals** Not Determined With Any Tribe and
Repatriated Not Repatriated
Alaska 1,121 12 0 409 700
Arizona 82 0 18 5 59
California 50 17 0 11 22
Colorado 426 0 0 3 423
Eastern States 0 0 0 0 0
Idaho 13 0 0 13 0
Montana 100 10 0 0
Nevada 124 0 120 3 1
New Mexico 179 0 100 0 79
Oregon/Washington13 0 0 13 0
Utah*** 200 200 0 0 0
Wyoming 38 0 35 0 3
Bureauwide 2,256 229 283 457 1,287
*Data in Table 1 were provided by BLM state office and field
office officials.
**"Individuals" include all human remains, subject to NAGPRA, in
the possession or control of BLM.
***Utah data were estimated by Utah State Office officials.
As shown in Table 1, of the 2,256 individuals identified, BLM had
affiliated 1,744 individuals (77 percent) to specific Native
American tribes and had determined that 283 individuals (13
percent) were culturally unidentifiable.[6] Of the 1,744 human
remains affiliated to Native American tribes, BLM had repatriated
457 remains, as requested by the respective tribes. Of the 1,287
human remains that had been affiliated to tribes but had not been
repatriated, 1,123 human remains were undergoing further
BLM/tribal consultations to determine their status, 160
individuals were pending publication of "Federal Register"
Notices of Inventory Completion, and 4 individuals were unclaimed
by the respective tribes. Repatriation of human remains and
associated funerary objects is required by the Act only when
requested by the affiliated tribes; otherwise, the unclaimed
remains and associated funerary objects are held in BLM-managed
museum collections. BLM had not determined the cultural
affiliation for the remaining 229 individuals, of which 200
individuals (87 percent) were from BLM-managed public land in
Utah.
Other than identifying the material as human remains, BLM
officials in Utah stated that minimal progress had been made in
determining tribal affiliation, conducting tribal consultations,
and repatriating (as needed) the estimated 200 Native American
remains because of higher priority wilderness study work.
Although almost 10 years have passed since enactment of NAGPRA,
Program officials in Utah could not estimate when the NAGPRA
requirements would be given the priority and resources needed for
compliance.
**FOOTNOTES**
[6]:These "culturally unidentifiable" human remains could not be
traced (affiliated) to any existing Federally recognized Native
American tribe.
Reburials on Public Land
During our audit, BLM officials in Colorado said that Native
American remains in the State had been reburied on BLM-managed
public land with the officials' knowledge of the actions. BLM
policy prohibiting the reburial of repatriated Native American
remains on BLM-managed public land is contained in BLM IM 98-131,
which states:
Due to the substantial and extensive legal, logistical, and
practical problems that would ensue if human remains and other
"cultural items" repatriated or transferred to lineal descendants
or tribes were to be reburied on public land, the Bureau's [BLM]
existing policy, in place since 1996, is reaffirmed and
clarified: The BLM's managers shall not directly or indirectly
authorize or permit the reburial of repatriated, removed, or
transferred human remains and/or other NAGPRA materials, on
public lands.
BLM officials in Colorado said that the policy prohibiting
reburial of human remains on BLM-managed land was instituted
because of legal issues regarding ownership and because BLM
officials could not ensure that such remains would be protected
after reburial. The policy[7] "responds to the extensive legal
problems that reburials would create for the BLM manager who
administers the land and the Native Americans who own the
materials."
According to BLM IM 98-131, these "problems" are due to the
owners (lineal descendants or tribes) being unable to exercise
full control over the reburied remains, the multiple use mandate
that public land is subject to, and BLM's difficulty in
protecting[8] non-Federally owned remains after reburial on
BLM-managed public land. However, Colorado State officials said
that they believed BLM's prohibition of public land reburials was
impeding the NAGPRA consultation process and that it reduced
BLM's ability to repatriate NAGPRA remains to tribes because some
tribes wanted the remains to be reburied near the original burial
sites (on public land). Therefore, these officials allowed
Native American remains to be reburied on BLM-managed public
land.
Tribal Concerns
During our audit, we mailed a questionnaire to 569 Native
American tribes to obtain information from the tribes regarding
BLM's efforts to comply with NAGPRA. As of November 30, 1999, we
had received responses from 33 tribes (6 percent of the
questionnaires mailed). The responses from 22 of the 33 tribes
said that the tribes were satisfied with or did not express an
opinion on BLM's NAGPRA efforts, and 11 tribes (one-third of the
respondents) stated that they were concerned with or dissatisfied
with BLM's NAGPRA efforts. These 11 tribes cited the lack of
adequate BLM/tribal consultations regarding NAGPRA issues, BLM's
policy of not allowing the reburial of Native American remains on
BLM-managed public land, and the lack of sufficient funding for
the tribes to conduct their NAGPRA consultations with BLM.
Recommendations
We recommend that the Director, BLM:
1. Develop and implement an overall action plan for the Utah
State Office to ensure completion in an expeditious manner of all
NAGPRA requirements regarding human remains (inventorying,
determining tribal affiliation, consulting with the tribes,
formally reporting, and repatriating, as appropriate).
2. Ensure that BLM senior-level managers monitor compliance with
the BLM policy regarding the prohibition of reburying Native
American remains on BLM-managed public land and take appropriate
action for noncompliance with the policy.
BLM Response and Office of Inspector General Reply
In the March 31, 2000, response (Appendix 2) to the draft report
from the Acting Director, BLM, BLM concurred with our two
recommendations. Subsequent to the response, BLM also provided a
target date of September 30, 2002, for implementation of
Recommendation 1. Based on the response and the subsequent
information, we consider Recommendation 1 resolved but not
implemented and Recommendation 2 resolved and implemented (see
Appendix 3). Accordingly, Recommendation 1 will be referred to
the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget for
tracking of implementation.
Additional Comments on Audit Report
BLM stated that it "has generally reported lower numbers of
individual skeletal remains (627) identified under NAGPRA [Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act] than does this
audit report"; that it had used "the most precise and consistent
numbers possible"; and that the numbers "represent only completed
and officially documented NAGPRA actions." BLM further stated
that the reasons the number of 2,256 in our report is
"significantly higher" than the number reported by BLM is that
the 2,256 included "not only the formally identified individuals
but, also, (a) unaffiliated individuals (material not subject to
repatriation), (b) material in draft pending "Federal Register"
Notices, (c) estimated numbers supplied by [BLM] field personnel,
(d) material where no tribal affiliation could be made, and (e)
material whose status may change after initial consultation with
tribes."
The number of human remains, 2,256, that BLM had located and
identified as of September 1, 1999, was used in our report to
show the overall status of NAGPRA activities within BLM. We
included all known (by BLM) remains that were subject to
NAGPRA-related actions, whether or not these actions were
completed or were formally documented in published notices. This
resulted in a more comprehensive picture of the overall progress
BLM has made in complying with the requirements of NAGPRA.
Moreover, this audit approach has also disclosed the areas for
improvement, such as timely completing the NAGPRA process in
Utah.
Since the report's recommendations are considered resolved, no
further response to the Office of Inspector General is required
(see Appendix 3).
Section 5(a) of the Inspector General Act (5 U.S.C. app. 3)
requires the Office of Inspector General to list this report in
its semiannual report to the Congress. In addition, the Office
of Inspector General provides audit reports to the Congress.
**FOOTNOTES**
[7]:The Policy Against Reburial of Repatriated Materials on
Public Lands was originally contained in BLM IM 96-97, issued in
May 1996, and was reaffirmed in BLM IM 98-131, issued in July
1998.
[8]:Personal property belonging to an Indian tribe and returned
to public land would not be protected by the Archaeological
Resources Protection Act.
APPENDIX 1
OFFICES AND SITES VISITED OR CONTACTED
Office and Site Location
Department of the Interior
Office of the Departmental Consulting
Archaeologist Washington, D.C.
Bureau of Land Management
Headquarters
Cultural Resource Management Office Washington, D.C.
National Curator Sacramento, California
Alaska State Office* Anchorage, Alaska
Arizona State Office* Phoenix, Arizona
California State Office Sacramento, California
Colorado State Office Lakewood, Colorado
Anasazi Heritage Center Dolores, Colorado
Eastern States Office* Springfield, Virginia
Idaho State Office Boise, Idaho
Lower Snake River Field Office Boise, Idaho
New Mexico State Office* Santa Fe, New Mexico
Montana State Office* Billings, Montana
Nevada State Office* Reno Nevada
Oregon State Office** Portland, Oregon
Utah State Office* Salt Lake City, Utah
Wyoming State Office* Cheyenne, Wyoming
Non-Federal Repositories:
Colorado State University* Fort Collins, Colorado
University of Denver Denver, Colorado
________________________
*Office contacted.
**The Oregon State Office area includes BLM-managed land in
Washington.
APPENDIX 2
Page 1 of 3
APPENDIX 2
Page 2 of 3
APPENDIX 2
Page 3 of 3
APPENDIX 3
STATUS OF AUDIT REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
Finding/Recommendation
Reference Status Actions Required
1 Resolved; not No further response to the Office of
implemented. Inspector General is required. The
recommendation will be referred to
the Assistant Secretary for Policy,
Management and Budget for tracking
of implementation.
2 Implemented. No further response to the Office of
Inspector General is required.
ILLEGAL OR WASTEFUL ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE REPORTED
TO THE OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL BY:
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Calling:
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