Campuswide Physical Survey for Native American Cultural Items & Ancestral Remains to be completed by October 1, 2024

September 12, 2024

Dear Campus Community,

Action Required: To ensure NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA compliance, every employee needs to physically inspect all areas under their control and/or management for all human remains and Native American cultural items and report their findings using the online Physical Survey for Human Remains and Native American Cultural Items Results Form by October 1, 2024.

Context: In 2019, Governor Newsom, on behalf of the State of California, apologized for the discriminatory practices and policies against California Indian Tribes and created the California Truth and Healing Council to foster healing and reconciliation with Tribes. Federal and state laws such as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990, NAGPRA) and the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (2001, CalNAGPRA), were enacted to address the wanton removal of Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native burials, cultural items and the destruction of their sacred spaces and places without their knowledge and consent. NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA require the repatriation of Native American, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native human remains and cultural items back to their communities for reburial and treatment based on tribal cultural protocols.

Cal Poly Pomona is embarking on a journey of acknowledgement, recognition and reconciliation with local Tribal Nations, some who have requested repatriation of the Native American cultural items CPP currently stewards. CPP acknowledges that the removal of these items from their homelands has caused irreparable harm, and we must ensure that the cultural items currently in our care are repatriated in an efficient and respectful manner. While we conducted an initial survey in 2022, recent updates to NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA require CPP to conduct a thorough campus physical inventory to re-confirm and identify any Native American human remains and all Native American cultural items in its possession by November 2024. I am asking for your help in support of this effort.

Guidance and helpful documents can be accessed on CPP’s NAGPRA website.

Physical inspections of department/unit/division spaces include faculty and staff offices, workspaces, common areas, lobbies, classrooms, labs, storage rooms, basements and ancillary structures controlled, managed and/or maintained by CPP (on and off-campus). All closets, cabinets, drawers, boxes and storage containers within those spaces should be opened and physically examined.

Human remains and Native American cultural items are not limited to items recovered from archaeological excavations. They may be from purchases with CPP funds by and/or gifts to the campus, departments, units, staff and faculty at any point in time. Identification of human remains, and Native American cultural items may not be obvious; please use existing information in your records and visual inspections to determine possible Native American origins. If records cannot provide conclusive provenience information, please err on the side of caution and report the human remains and cultural items. Desireé Martinez, NAGPRA/Cal NAGPRA Director will review and verify all reported findings.

A list of contacts for each college and division is provided below, each of whom will track and verify that each department/unit has completed the physical search of all spaces and has submitted their results. If you have questions about expectations, you may reach out to your college/division point of contact and/or Desireé Martinez.

Following cultural protocols and NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA requirements, please do not move and minimize the handling of human remains and Native American cultural items. If the human remains and cultural items are found to be improperly secured or stored and/or are exposed to harmful environments, immediately relocate them to a safe and secure location and contact Martinez as soon as possible.

If you have questions about NAGPRA, CalNAGPRA and/or the Chancellor’s Office compliance efforts, please go the CSU NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA. You can also contact Desireé Martinez by email at drmartinez2@cpp.edu or via phone at (909) 869-4205. I thank you for your support in this important effort.

Sincerely, 

Soraya M. Coley, Ph.D.
President