BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org
PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:Indybay-18457644
SEQUENCE:18477586
CREATED:20071102T004600Z
DESCRIPTION:WHO: National NAGPRA Coalition and social justice allies are holding a 
 peaceful prayer vigil to demand a reversal to the decision that has 
 excluded Native Americans from the decision making process and for 
 University of California Berkeley to immediately comply with the law. 
 National NAGPRA Coalition members, American Indian Movement Co-Founder 
 Dennis Banks, Jimbo Simmons of the International Indian Treaty Council and 
 all Indigenous Peoples and Social Justice Allies are urged to 
 participate.\n\nWHAT: Prayer Vigil to be held on Dia de los Muertos   for 
 the 13,000 remains housed at UC Berkeley to be returned to Indigenous 
 Nations. \n\nWHERE: Hearst Museum at University of California, Berkeley,  
 (Bancroft and Telegraph Way)\n\nWHEN: Friday, November 2, at 10 AM\n\nWHY: 
 Hearst Museum may temporarily control ancestral remains and sacred objects 
 but control does not constitute ownership. Native American remains and 
 sacred objects belong to Native Americans! Hearst Museum is out of 
 compliance with federal NAGPRA laws and continues to ignore Native Peoples. 
 The right to control ancestral remains is a basic human entitlement that 
 nearly all groups in the United States are afforded except Natives. The 
 NAGPRA cut directly undermines Native American cultural integrity, 
 trampling their right to religious freedom.  Native Americans tribal rights 
 must be respected when any institution makes a critical decision affecting 
 ancestral remains, and this is especially true of UC Berkeley, which 
 controls the second largest Native American collection in the Nation. If 
 the Berkeley precedent stands, other Universities and Museums will follow 
 suit. NAGPRA Coalition has already received calls from Native Americans at 
 institutions where officials are looking to UC Berkeley for 
 guidance.\n\nThe University of California Berkeley's (UCB) Hearst Museum 
 has terminated the critically important Tribal consultation and Native 
 American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) program at the 
 university. NAGPRA is a federal law that was intended by Congress to 
 redress the injustice of Natives not being able to control their ancestral 
 remains and requires Museums, including the Hearst Museum, to repatriate 
 human remains for reburial by tribes.  In addition the museum is required 
 to consult with culturally affiliated Indian tribes, Alaska Natives, and 
 Native Hawaiians regarding repatriation.\n\nAccording to Mark LeBeau, 
 citizen of Pit River Nation, "UCB completely and deliberately excluded all 
 Natives from the secretive review process that eliminated the NAGPRA 
 program, and did so in spite of strenuous protests by tribes and other 
 Native Americans." The NAGPRA program at UCB is responsible for insuring 
 the museum complies with the Act and repatriate items when appropriate. The 
 Hearst Museum houses human remains from approximately 13,000 biological 
 individuals, according to LeBeau.   These remains have significant 
 spiritual and cultural value to many tribes.\n\n NANC members urged other 
 tribes to join the Coalition and all Americans to insist that public 
 officials redress the longstanding injustice that allows Museums and 
 scientists to keep huge collections of Native American remains and conduct 
 research often violates tribal religious beliefs.\n\nTribes and individuals 
 can add their voices by contacting congressional and state representatives; 
 by writing or calling Provost Rori Hume at the University of California 
 Office of the President, 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94607, (510) 
 987- 9220; or by writing or calling the Governor and other University 
 Regents at the addresses listed at 
 http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/contact.html.\n \nWANT MORE 
 INFORMATION?\n\nSee Press Release and Letter to Provost Hume 
 attached.\n\nFor additional information on the UCB NAGPRA issue, visit 
 http://nagpra-ucb-faq.blogspot.com and http://nagpra-ucb.blogspot.com .\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/01/18457644.php
SUMMARY:Day of Prayer in Resistance at Hearst Museum
LOCATION:Hearst Museum at University of California, Berkeley,  (Bancroft and 
 Telegraph Way)
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/01/18457644.php
DTSTART:20071102T170000Z
DTEND:20071102T200000Z
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR