This came in my email on an archaeology update I get ...... I'll have to go searching and see exactly what these changes are.........




This note about the potentially very important change to be made in the language of NAGPRA was sent to me today by the Friends of America's Past. If I were a suspicious sort, I'd say it was very interesting that the Senate chose this week, when a major portion of the American archaeological community is at the Society for American Archaeology meetings. While I'm unconvinced that the definition doesn't need rewriting, it seems that public discussion of such an influential piece of legislation should be called for. >From FOAP: S.536 Section 108 As early as next week (April 4-8, 2005) the US Senate will vote on S.536. In Section 108 of this bill, the Senate Indian Affairs committee quietly and unanimously voted to amend NAGPRA's definition of Native American. No public hearings were held on this sweeping change. This expansive definition of Native American sets the stage to overturn the Kennewick Man decisions rendered by the Federal District Court of Oregon and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. More than Kennewick Man is at stake. Unless Section 108 is deleted, public access to the factual understanding of the nation's prehistory shifts to the exclusive control of American Indians. FAX your concerns to your state's Senators and Senate Majority Leader Frist. Ask them to delete Section 108 from S.536. (US Mail will not reach these offices in time). Every FAX counts. Voice your concerns - NOW ----- Subject: S.536 - DELETE Section 108 Delete Section 108 of S. 536. NAGPRA's definition of Native American should not be amended. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2004 that the language now used in Section 108 yields an absurd result. The Senate must not pass a law that yields an absurd result. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs did not hold public hearings on this matter, nor did it consider the broad implications of this change nor interests of the greater public.



Kat

Ma'at Moderator

Founder and Director of The Hall of Ma'at

Contributing author to Archaeological Fantasies:
How pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public
"If you panic, you're lost" -- W. T. 'Watertight' Southard