Annual NAGPRA Compliance Search Requirement

Dear Campus Community,

Action Required:

To ensure NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA compliance, every employee needs to physically inspect all areas under their control and/or management for all human remains and Native American cultural items and report their findings using the online Physical Search for Human Remains and Native American Cultural Items Results Form by November 1, 2026.

Context:

We recognize and honor the deep and enduring connections Native American Tribes have with the land, and we reflect on our responsibility to respect, protect, and learn from Native American cultural heritage.

At Cal Poly Pomona, that responsibility includes our ongoing work to fulfill the requirements of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA). These laws provide an important framework for the respectful return of Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native ancestral remains and cultural items to their descendant communities.

Today, Cal Poly Pomona stewards 176 Native American cultural items and no known human remains. We continue to work with Tribal Nations toward the respectful repatriation of these cultural items, and earlier this year, we completed the repatriation of a collection.

The CSU Systemwide NAGPRA Policy requires each campus to conduct a physical search to identify any Native American human remains and all Native American cultural items in its possession. We need your help in support of this effort.

A short guidance video and helpful documents are available on Cal Poly Pomona’s NAGPRA website. 

Physical inspections of department, unit, and division spaces should include faculty and staff offices, workspaces, common areas, lobbies, classrooms, laboratories, storage rooms, basements, and ancillary structures controlled, managed, and/or maintained by Cal Poly Pomona, both on and off campus. All closets, cabinets, drawers, boxes, and storage containers within those spaces should be opened and physically examined.

Human remains and Native American cultural items are not limited to materials recovered through archaeological excavations. They may also include items purchased with Cal Poly Pomona funds or received as gifts by the university, departments, units, staff, or faculty. Identifying human remains and Native American cultural items is not always straightforward. Please use visual inspections and the information available to you to assess whether an item may have Native American origins. If records cannot provide conclusive information, please err on the side of caution and report the item. Desireé Martinez, NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA Director, will review and verify all reported findings.

A list of contacts for each college and division is provided below. Each contact will track and verify that departments and units have completed the physical search of their spaces and submitted their results. For questions, please reach out to your college or division point of contact and/or Desireé Martinez.

In keeping with cultural protocols and NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA requirements, please do not move or unnecessarily handle human remains or Native American cultural items. If items are found to be improperly secured or stored, or exposed to harmful environments, immediately relocate them to a safe location and contact Desireé Martinez as soon as possible.

Thank you for your care, attention, and partnership in this important work. By taking these steps, we help ensure that Cal Poly Pomona continues to uphold Tribal sovereignty, honor Native American cultural heritage, and live our commitment to being a university that leads with respect, accountability, and care. 

If you have questions about NAGPRA, CalNAGPRA and/or the Chancellor’s Office compliance efforts, please go to the CSU NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA webpage. You can also contact Desireé Martinez by email at drmartinez2@cpp.edu or via phone at 909- 869-4205. Thank you for your support in this important effort.

With Gratitude,