Help Use End Cultural Heritage Trafficking

We can help Native Nations, auction houses, and collectors where Ancestors and cultural heritage items are involved.

Laws That May Apply

Report Trafficking
If you are holding Native Cultural Heritage, then you are holding sensitive items that belong to a Native Nation, a Native Hawaiian Organization, Indigenous Group or lineal descendant (herafter, "Native Nation"). It is known as “community” property or "patrimony" and specifically means it belongs to a collective - like a sovereign Native Nation. Therefore, no individual would have the right to remove the item from that Native Nation without proper authority or consent from that Nation at the time the item was removed from that Nation - or has since obtained consent.

There are several federal, state and Native Nation laws that apply to these cases, even if NAGPRA does not apply! A purchaser can never obtain good title from a thief, even if the theft occurred decades in the past. Here are some laws that may apply:
  •  18 U.S. Code § 1163 - Embezzlement and theft from Indian tribal organizations;
  • 25 U.S. Code § 194 - Trial of right of property; burden of proof (the non-Indian has the burden to prove that they have a right of possession);
  • 16 USC Ch. 1B – The Archaeological Resources Protection Act incorporates any state law that was violated to obtain items;
  • Common law theft and other laws;
  • Native Nation laws, customs and traditions include that Native Nations have the inherent or expressed jurisdiction over their cultural heritage, regardless of where it is located.​
If you have ANY evidence of theft, looting or removing the item without the consent of your Nation, please immediately contact:
FBI Art Crimes Team
​​Supervisory Special Agent Jake Archer
[email protected] | 609-578-2706

Special Agent Christopher "Sean" Dudley
[email protected] | 202-834-6257 (mobile)
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Special Agent Franklin Chavez
[email protected] | 505-228-8053
There are many different federal, state and Native Nation laws that may apply to sensitive cultural items that have been misappropriated including the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, but there are other laws that may apply that auction houses and dealers do not review. As experts in the law, we can help individuals, Native Nations, collectors, museums and auction houses protect Native cultural heritage.

Joint Statement

Along with our partners, we advise buyers and collectors to invest in contemporary Native artists whose stories and creations are accessible and created to share - not Indigenous burials and sacred, cultural patrimony.

Joint Statement Partners