Memory, Identity, and NAGPRA in the Northeastern United States

Determinations of cultural affiliation in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) often rely on culture history and the direct-historical approach. Both methods ignore important developments in our understanding of identity. A recent NAGPRA claim illustrates an alternative. Using culture history and the direct-historical approach, it was difficult to ascribe the Engelbert Site of New York State to a federally recognized tribe because it contained material from multiple culture-historic taxa, often in the same feature. Taphonomic analyses of selected mixed deposits revealed a previously undocumented mortuary ritual that has since been found at other sites. Using memory as a framework for interpretation, this ritual appears reflective of a kinship-based shared identity between culture-historic taxa. The multivocality of this ritual provided an additional means for evaluating cultural affiliation by ascribing a consciousness of history to the subjects of this repatriation claim.