Burial grounds were excavated.

Human remains were exchanged between institutions.

Scientists sometimes built racial classification systems from skulls.

Sacred items were purchased under unequal circumstances or removed during periods when Native religious practices themselves were suppressed.

By the late twentieth century, Native communities were demanding legal change.

NAGPRA attempted to create that change through a formal process.

It applied to federal agencies and institutions receiving federal funds.

It required inventories and summaries.

It created categories such as human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.

It required consultation and established pathways for repatriation.