Conference Agenda

Panel members will respond to this question: If Congress were to pass a bill addressing archaeology and cultural heritage in the US, what would you like that bill to say and do? This is a timely and relevant question. The US has had legislation regarding archaeology for more than a century (1906 Antiquities Act) and additional major pieces establishing federal programs, funding levels, or recognizing Tribal rights have been passed at a tempo of about once every 30 years, once a generation. But current federal responsibilities and definitions for archaeology and heritage were set up by and large before widespread recognition of climate change, Indigenous knowledge, and environmental justice. We now stand 34 years beyond initial passage of NAGPRA. So this panel will ask and begin to answer: how do we build a voice for the heritage legislation our time? What do we want that voice to say?