In January 2024, the federal government issued updated regulations to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). These regulations apply to all American museums that receive federal funding and house Native American ancestral remains or cultural items, including PEM.
PEM is committed to being in compliance with the letter and spirit of NAGPRA and welcomes the clarification that these most recent amendments provide. The museum works continuously to ensure it: stays in compliance with NAGPRA; is a responsible steward of its Native American Art and Culture collection; and fosters active, productive relationships with Native communities in Massachusetts and across the nation.
PEM’s former director Dan Monroe was one of the original authors of NAGPRA, enacted in 1990, and served three terms on the National NAGPRA Review Committee. Since that time, PEM has been regarded as a leader in the progressive interpretation, research, acquisition and presentation of Native art and culture. It has also worked to cultivate the next generation of Native American, Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian), Alaska Native, First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders in the cultural sector through its Native American Fellowship, founded in 2010.
PEM works closely with Native community members to mount culturally responsive exhibitions, and the museum continually assesses its collection. In addition to stewarding historic works of Native art and culture, PEM commissions and acquires works by contemporary Native artists, several of which are on view in PEM’s ongoing, 10,000 square-foot collection gallery installation, On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America, which opened in 2022.