💰 Arizona's $7 Million Commitment: A New Era for Indigenous Repatriation and Tribal Sovereignty

Governor Katie Hobbs' $7 million funding boost for the Arizona State Museum seeks to transform institutional repatriation efforts and honor tribal sovereignty.

Jan 24, 2025

😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
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Arizona has promised 💰 $7 million to help return Indigenous ancestors and sacred artifacts 🪙 to their tribal communities, addressing years of delays ⏳ in honoring promises made under a law called NAGPRA. This funding hopes to speed up the process 🚀, allowing tribes to reclaim their heritage 🏞️ and ensuring that their cultural practices can continue without hinderance 🙌. However, the real challenge 🤔 is whether this funding will lead to lasting changes 🌍 in how state institutions recognize and respect tribal sovereignty. ✊🏾

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🗝️ Takeaways

💰 Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs pledges $7 million for the Arizona State Museum to facilitate the repatriation of Indigenous ancestors and artifacts.
📖 The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was designed to support tribal claims on ancestral remains, yet state institutions lag behind.
🚪 Institutional excuses have long stalled repatriation, keeping sacred items locked away.
🏗️ The funding aims to enhance staffing and resources at the museum to expedite repatriation processes.
⚖️ A fundamental shift in how Arizona's institutions honor tribal sovereignty is crucial for meaningful change.

Arizona's $7M NAGPRA Pledge: A Long Overdue Step Toward Indigenous Justice

After decades of institutional foot-dragging on the repatriation of Indigenous ancestors and sacred items, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has finally put real money behind the state's obligations to tribal nations.

Her recent $7 million funding pledge to the Arizona State Museum (ASM) at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, marks a potential turning point in our state's troubled history with Native American cultural heritage and sovereignty.

But to understand why this matters—and why it's taken so ridiculously long—we must dive deep into the context that brought us here.

The Promise and Reality of NAGPRA

When Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990, it was heralded as a transformative piece of legislation. After centuries of grave robbery, exploitation, and the systematic collection of Indigenous remains and artifacts under the banner of "scientific research," NAGPRA was supposed to give tribes the legal tools to reclaim their ancestors and sacred items from museums and institutions across the country.

Here in Arizona, home to 22 federally recognized tribes and some of the richest archaeological heritage in North America, you might think we'd have been leaders in implementation. After all, our state constitution explicitly recognizes tribal sovereignty, and our major universities pride themselves on their Indigenous studies programs and tribal relationships.

Instead, what we've seen over the past 33 years is a masterclass in institutional inertia and the perpetuation of colonial power dynamics. The numbers tell a damning story: ASM, our state's largest anthropological repository, has only processed about half of its collection for repatriation.

Even worse, Arizona State University—which loves to tout its "New American University" model of social embeddedness—has made less than 2% of its collection available, putting it in the bottom quarter nationally.

The Excuses Game

For years, our institutions have hid behind predictable excuses: lack of funding, insufficient space, and inadequate staffing. And yes, these are real constraints.

However, successive state governments chose not to address them. When institutions like ASM and ASU cite space and staffing issues, they're really telling us that returning ancestral remains to tribal communities wasn't a priority worth funding.

Let's be crystal clear about what this means: Every year that these remains and artifacts sit in museum storage is another year that tribal communities are prevented from properly honoring their ancestors and maintaining their cultural practices.

It's a direct continuation of the colonial violence that filled these collections in the first place.

The Turning Point?

This is why Hobbs' $7 million pledge matters. It's not just about the money—though that's crucial—but about finally acknowledging that the state has a responsibility to actively support repatriation, not just mandate it. The funding would allow ASM to hire additional staff and potentially cut years off its repatriation timeline.

But here's where we need to think bigger: Why are tribes still having to wait on state institutions to process and verify what rightfully belongs to their communities? Why aren't they given more direct control over these processes? The current system still requires Indigenous communities to ask permission to reclaim their cultural heritage.

Beyond the Budget Line

The implications for tribal sovereignty are profound.

How we handle repatriation reflects how seriously we take tribal self-determination in practice, not just in theory. When our institutions take decades to return ancestral remains and sacred items, they're effectively continuing to exercise control over crucial aspects of tribal cultural and spiritual life.

It's worth noting that this funding pledge came after investigative reporting by Cronkite News and the Howard Center brought renewed attention to Arizona's NAGPRA failures.

The governor's office explicitly acknowledged that this reporting helped bring the issue to Hobbs' attention. Once again, local journalism is crucial in driving accountability and policy change in our state.

The Road Ahead

The $7 million still needs to pass the legislative process, and given our legislature's historical resistance to increasing funding for tribal initiatives, that's not guaranteed. Even if it passes, this funding alone will not fully resolve ASM's space constraints.

Moreover, the pledge only addresses one institution's needs.

What about ASU's abysmal record?

What about other institutions across the state? Real change will require a comprehensive approach that transforms how our institutions think about their responsibilities to tribal communities.

A Challenge to Do Better

As Arizonans, we need to ask ourselves some hard questions.

Why did it take 33 years and investigative reporting to get serious funding for repatriation? Why do our prestigious universities continue to benefit from collections that were often acquired through deeply unethical practices? How can we move beyond compliance-based approaches to truly honor tribal sovereignty?

Hobbs' funding pledge is a start—but it's just that—a start. Real justice requires not just funding but a fundamental shift in how Arizona approaches its relationships with tribal nations. It requires moving beyond the paternalistic model in which state institutions decide when and how to return stolen property.

For now, we'll watch to see if this funding survives the budget process and what concrete changes it brings. But we shouldn't lose sight of the bigger picture: This isn't just about meeting legal obligations under NAGPRA. It's about addressing historical injustices and supporting genuine tribal sovereignty. Arizona's Indigenous communities have waited long enough.

Have thoughts on how Arizona can better support tribal sovereignty and cultural heritage? Share your perspectives in the comments below.