2023 NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation Grants | P23AS00094

Opportunity Information: Apply for P23AS00094

The 2023 NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation Grants program (Funding Opportunity Number P23AS00094) is a discretionary grant opportunity administered by the National Park Service under CFDA 15.922. It funds project work carried out under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) that is specifically focused on consultation and/or documentation activities. The core purpose is practical and outcomes-driven: projects should help clarify what Native American cultural items are, where they came from, who they are affiliated with, and what should happen next under NAGPRA, including decisions related to control, treatment, repatriation, disposition, and updates to required NAGPRA records.

Grant funds may be used for two main types of work. Consultation projects are designed to support formal engagement between museums and tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, particularly when a museum needs to revise a NAGPRA inventory or when parties are making or responding to repatriation requests related to items listed in a NAGPRA summary. Documentation projects support the fact-finding that often has to happen before consultation can be completed effectively or before repatriation decisions can be made. This can include research to determine geographic origin, cultural affiliation, and the basic circumstances of how items were acquired, with the goal of producing the information needed to move items through the NAGPRA process responsibly and in compliance with the law and regulations.

Eligible applicants include Indian Tribes, Alaska Native villages, Native Hawaiian organizations, and certain museums. For tribes, eligibility follows the NAGPRA definition of an Indian Tribe, which the Department of the Interior interprets as applying to the federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native villages (not including Alaska regional or village corporations). For Native Hawaiian organizations, eligibility covers organizations that serve and represent Native Hawaiian interests, have a primary stated purpose of providing services to Native Hawaiians, and demonstrate expertise in Native Hawaiian affairs; NAGPRA explicitly includes the Office of Hawaiian Affairs within this category. Museums may apply if they have control of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony and have received federal funds. In this context, "museum" is defined broadly and can include state or local government agencies, private institutions, and colleges or universities, as long as they have received federal funding.

A key condition for museum eligibility is prior NAGPRA compliance with required documentation. Museums must have completed and provided the required NAGPRA Summary (covering cultural items in their possession or control, due originally by November 16, 1993, or later according to the timelines in 43 CFR 10.13) and the required NAGPRA Inventory (covering human remains and associated funerary objects, due originally by November 16, 1995, or later according to 43 CFR 10.13). A museum that had not previously completed a summary or inventory can still become eligible if it completes the required materials before submitting its grant proposal. Museums found to be out of compliance with NAGPRA may be excluded from consideration, which signals that the program is intended to support good-faith, compliant work that advances repatriation and related responsibilities rather than substituting for baseline legal obligations.

Some entities are explicitly not eligible. Federal agencies and the Smithsonian Institution may not apply for these grants. In addition, applicants that previously received a NAGPRA grant but did not meet grant conditions, such as failing to deliver required reports or other deliverables, may be penalized during review, which highlights the program's emphasis on accountability and follow-through.

From the posted opportunity details, the application deadline for this cycle was March 10, 2023, and the maximum award amount listed was $100,000. The eligible applicant types shown in the source data include a wide range of government entities and institutions (such as state and local governments and public or private institutions of higher education), but the narrative eligibility requirements clarify that, for this particular program, eligibility hinges on being an Indian Tribe/Alaska Native village, a qualified Native Hawaiian organization, or a federally funded museum with NAGPRA control responsibilities and the required summaries and inventories completed and shared.

• The National Park Service in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2023 NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.922.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-11-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-03-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for P23AS00094

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