About Us

The American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation is a non-federally funded, not-for-profit organization founded in 1992 by Elizabeth Sackler. The Foundation assisted in the repatriation of ceremonial materials to American Indian people for more than fifteen years, and continue to be committed to educating students and the public about the importance of repatriation.

The Repatriation Foundation’s website remains as our educational resource tool. Our website provides lists of essential reading on American Indian history and repatriation, links to relevant websites, and archival newspaper and magazine articles about the Foundation. You can read articles and lectures by, and hear radio interviews with, Elizabeth Sackler, and watch Life Spirit, our award-winning video of interviews with prominent Native American leaders.

Also available on-line is Mending the Circle: A Native American Repatriation Guide (Understanding and Implementing NAGPRA and the Official Smithsonian and other Repatriation Policies) which can be read and/or downloaded in its entirety free of charge. Mending the Circle is the definitive guide on the repatriation process as set forth by the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Since 1996, federally recognized tribes, individuals, schools, museums, libraries, and universities (nationally and internationally) have used Mending the Circle.

News & Notes (1994 – 2003) can be read and/or downloaded free of charge. Articles about the foundation’s repatriations, conferences, and interviews with Native and non-Native peoples working on repatriation, were published in our bi-annual newsletter.