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Fact Sheet: Recent National Park Service Work with Indian Country

The National Park Service has taken significant action since 2021 to support Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in managing their resources and lands, pursue opportunities based on their own strategies and priorities, and self-govern through their own independent judgment and Indigenous values.

Uplifting Indian Country Voices

The National Park Service has made a concerted effort to ensure Native perspectives are included in decision making. For example, the National Park Service established a new co-stewardship policy in 2022 that strengthens the role of American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes, Alaska Native entities, and the Native Hawaiian community in federal land management by providing a stronger framework – beyond traditional consultation – to help park managers facilitate and support meaningful partnerships with Tribes. Additionally, the National Park Service fully staffed the first NPS Office of Native American Affairs, which reports directly to the National Park Service director.

Supporting Tribal Sovereignty

The National Park Service has updated or issued several policies and regulations in support of the United States government’s unique nation-to-nation relationship with Tribes:

  • A new final rule, published in December 2023, updated regulations that implement the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The revised regulations provide systematic processes for returning Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations (NHOs), while strengthening the authority and role of Tribes and NHOs in the repatriation process.

  • In the past year, the National Park Service has also issued new internal guidance in support of Tribal plant gathering on park land and the reburial of Native American human remains and funerary objects in parks, as well as guidance for ensuring park exhibits meet the updated regulations under NAGPRA.

Partnering with Tribes

The National Park Service works to ensure Tribal governments have an equal voice in park planning and management, consistent with law and the United States government’s unique trust relationship with, and responsibility to protect and support, federally recognized Indian Tribes.

As of September 2024, of the 431 national parks:

  • 109 parks have formal Tribal co-stewardship agreements, with another 43 pending in conversation with Tribes, expected to be completed around the end of 2024. At Grand Canyon National Park, for example, 16 affiliated Tribes have agreements to tell Indigenous stories at places like Desert View Watchtower and the Tusayan Museum and Pueblo. The locations also have Tribal vendors demonstrating their craft and selling products like artwork.

  • Another 56 parks have some kind of co-stewardship activities with Tribes as a part of their work, beyond the framework of a formal co-stewardship agreement. For example, Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes worked together to develop a series of nine new interpretive waysides on the 1/2-mile-long Devils Orchard Nature Trail. The new waysides feature aspects of Indigenous history, perspective, culture, and language while challenging visitors to consider the difficulties of protecting the park’s fragile environment.

  • Grand Portage National Monument celebrated the 25th anniversary in August 2024 of its co-management agreement with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Co-management agreements require unique legal authority or circumstances to implement. The National Park Service also has fully executed co-management agreements in place with affiliated Tribes at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

Investments in Indigenous History and Culture

The National Park Service works with Indian Country to ensure Indigenous voices are uplifted and Tribal heritage is not forgotten. Since 2021, the National Park Service has:

  • Distributed another $10.4 million in grants to museums, Indian Tribes, and NHOs to assist in consultation, documentation, and repatriation under NAGPRA. In 2022, the National Park Service also hired a full-time investigator to enhance oversight and museum compliance with NAGPRA for the first time in in the Act’s 31-year history.

Other Successes

Across the country, parks continue to grow existing relationships with affiliated Tribes while other times starting new ones. For example:

  • In March 2024, the Yurok Tribe, Save the Redwoods League, National Park Service, and California State Parks signed a landmark memorandum of understanding to ultimately transfer ‘O Rew, a 125-acre ecologically and culturally important property, from Save the Redwoods League back to its original steward, the Yurok Tribe. The shared vision is for the partners to cooperatively manage public access and create a future southern gateway to Redwood National and State Parks.

  • The National Park Service, Wabanaki Nations of Maine, Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters, and partner groups are working together to construct Tekαkαpimək Contact Station at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The privately funded visitor center will tell the story of the region through a primarily Indigenous lens with special attention to protecting Indigenous storytelling and cultural property.

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Last updated: November 18, 2024