The Museum of Indian Culture is now offering an additional service with the opening of a Historic Preservation Office in a formal partnership with Delaware Nation of Anadarko, Oklahoma. This PA office is an extension of Delaware Nation’s existing office in OK, which improves their access to ancestral homelands, and allows them to more efficiently respond to NAGPRA and historic preservation related concerns in the region. Local relevant inquiries can now be directed to Delaware Nation’s attention through our office at the museum, and receive immediate response by our staffed Historic Preservation Assistant, Katelyn Lucas, during regular office hours.

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This partnership also enables collaboration between Delaware Nation and the Museum of Indian Culture to increase educational and cultural resources and opportunities in the region, supporting the museum’s mission to foster public awareness of Lenape histories, as well as the diversity of thriving Indigenous cultures today.

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About Historic Preservation 

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It is the mission of Delaware Nation’s Historic Preservation Office to protect, preserve, and perpetuate their story so future generations may continue to pass on the rich history and culture of the Delaware people. Through Section 106 reviews, consultation, and monitoring, they can protect their lands of tribal interest from physical destruction and or damage, as well as sacred sites such as cemeteries and ceremonial locations, and the flora and fauna of historic importance to the tribe. Additionally, the office protects archaeological sites which might contain burials and associated funerary objects.

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What is Section 106?

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Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) ensures that federal agencies take preservation values into consideration when they propose a project that may affect historic properties. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) oversees the review process, during which federal agencies must consult with Tribal Historic Preservation Officers to assess the possible adverse effects of the project, as well as notify the public of their goals and the potential impacts of their project on the historic property.

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What is NAGPRA?

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Passed in 1990, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires that all federally funded institutions must return Native American cultural items—including ancestral human remains, objects of cultural patrimony, and materials or objects possessing ongoing cultural significance—to federally recognized descendants of the tribe(s) on whose land the objects were found, and/or to culturally affiliated organizations.

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