Native American Remains Bill Signed

State Capitol in 1912

Excerpt from official description of AB 2836 signed yesterday by Gov. Brown:

Note: This topic was discussed at the Regents meeting that concluded yesterday. We will be catching up with the Regents - preserving the audio recordings - as time permits.

...The bill would require the regents, as a condition for using state funds to handle and maintain Native American human remains and cultural items, to ensure that the campus committees implement the policies and procedures adopted by the regents and reviewed by the Native American Heritage Commission. The bill would provide that, if the regents use state funds to handle and maintain Native American human remains and cultural items, all claims for repatriation or claims of any violation of the policies and procedures shall be submitted to the campus committee for determination and would require the regents to adopt procedures to support appeals and dispute resolution in cases where a tribe disagrees with a campus determination regarding repatriation or disposition of cultural items directly to the systemwide committee. The bill would require the California State Auditor to conduct an audit commencing in the year 2019 and again in 2021 regarding the University of California’s compliance with the federal and California acts and to report its findings to the Legislature and to all other appropriate entities.

Full bill text at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2836