Self-study
P1
Many Native Americans view the archaeological excavation and museum display of ancestral skeletal remains and items buried with them as a spiritual desecration. ███
NA perspective / problem ·
Digging up ancestral remains and items buried with them is offensive
Potential solution ·
Legal remedies can prohibit or regulate digging up remains/items, as long as NA can establish standing
Three bases of standing ·
These categories of plaintiffs traditionally have standing
(1) deceased's heirs, (2) owner of the property on which grave is located, (3) parties with clear interest in preservation of a particular grave. For the last category, graves that are recent and associated with identifiable NA communities are likely to support standing. But graves that are old and not associated with a nearby NA community are less likely to support standing.
When there is standing ·
Common law can allow NA to bring claims against archaelogists and museums
P2
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Details of common law protection ·
Property law can establish NA claims to dug up artifacts
In one case, the court ruled that the common law doctrine of abandonment does not apply to objects buried with deceased people. This suggests artifacts from NA ancestral graves should be returned to the tribal groups that can establish standing.
P3
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Individual vs. Communal Property ·
Museums can't assume valid title to an artifact simply because they purchased it from an individual NA
An individual NA doesn't have title to artifacts that are communal property.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
10.
It can be inferred that █ █████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ████ ████████ ██ █ ████████████ ████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██████ ████████ ███████████
a
one who seeks, ██ ███ ██ ███████ █████████████ ██ ███ ████████ ███████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ██████ ████
Not supported, because (A) involves one of the deceased’s heirs, which is a class of plaintiffs who are typically afforded standing.
b
one who seeks ██ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ██████ █████████ ████ █ █████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████
Not supported, because (B) involves the owner of the property on which the grave is located.
c
one who represents █ █████ █████ ███████ ████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████████ ██ ███████ ████ █ ███████ ████████ ████ █████ ███ █████ ████████ █████
Not supported, because the grave is associated with an identifiable Native American community, and this isn’t a case where the community associated with the grave has not recently lived in the area.
d
one who seeks ██ ████ █████████ ████ ████ ████ ███████ ████ █ █████ ██████████ ██ ██ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████ ████████ ██ ███ █████
Not supported, because this involves “distant relatives of the deceased,” who might have a “clear interest in the preservation of a particular grave.”
e
one who seeks ███ ██████ ██ █████████ █████ ████ ███ ███████ ██████ ███████ ██ █████████ ██████ ███ ███ █████████ ██ █ ██████
There’s evidence a court would be least likely to grant standing in this case, because the burial grounds are not associated with an “identifiable Native American community.” In addition, nothing in (E) indicates that it involves the deceased’s heirs, the owner of the property on which the grave is located, or parties that have a clear interest in preservation of a particular grave.