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Pottery, tools, and other artifacts sit on a rocky surface within a museum exhibit.
Artifacts from the Susquehannock people at the State Museum of Pennsylvania. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Ruhrfisch)

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is passed.

1990

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Artifacts from the Susquehannock people at the State Museum of Pennsylvania. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Ruhrfisch)

The act requires all agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to return "cultural items" to lineal descendants and culturally-affiliated Native American communities. This includes burial remains used for research and/or display that are kept in museums and hospital archives.