8th Annual Repatriation Conference
ReACTivating Our Ancestral Connections

​CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS
Submission deadline is Monday, May 30, 2022, 5:00 pm E.S.T.
Please download the call for session proposals, develop your panel, and
submit your session proposal on our google form.

We look forward to having you join us to explore the theme -
ReACTivating Our Ancestral Connections. 

ReACTivating Our Ancestral Connections: Repatriation is not just the act of returning Ancestors, their burial belongings, and sacred and cultural patrimony. The return of Indigenous Peoples Cultural Heritage requires all of us to remember our connections with the past. Our 8th Annual Repatriation Conference is themed “ReACTivating Our Ancestral Connections” because we must ACT together to reACTivate our relationships with one another and our relationships with the past to create a world where diverse Indigenous cultures and values are lived, protected and respected. 

​The Association on American Indian Affairs’ 8th Annual Repatriation Conference will focus on collective healing from the past and committing to being good Ancestors for future generations to come. We will look to compliance, advocacy, and activism to form strategies and commitments for generational healing. The Conference will provide a welcoming and productive space for truth-telling about the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual burden that Native Nations continue to face as a direct result of their Ancestral remains and objects being stolen and not returned home.
 
ReACTivating Our Ancestral Connections means looking to the Elders, knowledge keepers, and Ancestors that have come before us and remembering the songs, ceremonies, languages, and prayers. We must use those songs and prayers to sing our Ancestors' home and send our collective prayers far into the future for the generations to come. We cannot do this work alone – we must all ACT as good Ancestors now! Time to reACTivate!
​

Contact the Association at general@Indian-Affairs.org or call us
​at (240) 314-7155 if you have questions.

Submitting your session proposal. Please use this LINK for the google form to submit your session proposal.
 
Proposals are due by 5:00 pm Eastern Time on Monday, May 30, 2022. Proposals will be reviewed by the Conference Planning Committee. Sessions will be selected based on their relevancy to the theme of the Conference and meet the criteria.
 
After your proposal is submitted, you may be contacted for further information or revisions. The Planning Committee may ask that your session be amended to support the Conference agenda. Decisions on panel sessions will be finalized on or before Monday, June 27.
 
Once accepted, all presenters must provide the following by the following dates:

• Provide all final titles and descriptions of the session, and names, biographies, and photos, of all panel members by Friday, July 8;
• All presenters must register for the Conference by Friday, September 16. Thanks to our generous sponsors, we are able to offer FREE registration for all speakers attending in-person and $100 for speakers attending virtually.
• Presenters that do not provide information or fail to register timely will be removed from the program.

 
The following information will be required when submitting:

• The title of the session;
• The type of proposed session (Workshop, Panel, Roundtable, Other);
• The name, affiliation or title, and email addresses for each session participant;
• A brief abstract of the session for the program (not to exceed 50 words);
• A detailed description of the session (not to exceed 500 words);
• Learning outcomes (2-3 statements, 100 words max)
• How much time is needed for the panel or workshop (a typical session will be 1 hour and 30 minutes long, which should include a 20-minute question and answer period or open discussion. However, shorter or longer sessions may also be proposed.); and
• Proposal history (if presentation was used in the past).

 
Panel presentations must meet the following criteria:

1. Relevant to the Conference theme: ReACTivating Our Ancestral Connections. Please carefully review the description of the theme.
2. Add value to repatriation practice by providing new and interesting information about repatriation efforts – whether those efforts are pursuant to NAGPRA, international repatriation, trafficking, sacred places, return of tangible or intangible cultural heritage, which could include language, items, knowledge, seeds, or efforts taking place to protect Native American cultural heritage domestically or abroad.
3. Interactive and involves the audience to develop skills, strategies, networks and collaborative efforts.
4. Provides respectful dialogue, even where there may be disagreement.
5. Includes anti-racism, a social justice component, decolonization, de-systemizing, or truth-telling.
6. Involves collaborative efforts among diverse parties.
7. Provides take-away tools to achieve successful repatriation.

 
Example sessions may include:
            Repatriation Success Stories that Inspire and Guide Future Efforts             Decolonizing NAGPRA/Repatriation of Culture
            Changing Research Practices and Science                                                         Rematriation/Seed Keeping
            Building best practices                                                                                            Anti-racism and truth-telling as a way to generate healing
            Identifying and Moving Beyond Barriers to Repatriation                               Consultation and Negotiation Strategies
            Inter-Tribal coalition building                                                                                 International Repatriation
            Legal Strategies                                                                                                        Effective tactics in the return of private collections
            Repatriation of Intangible Cultural Heritage                                                      The importance of repatriation
 
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A PUBLIC CONFERENCE AND ALL SESSIONS WILL BE RECORDED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.​