“Propatriation”: Possibilities in Art After NAGPRA Since the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1991, Tlingit peoples have succeeded in repatriating numerous examples of at.óow from museums across the United States. In addition to repatriating at.óow, however, Tlingit clans and artists have participated in what this paper terms “propatriation”: the sending forth of an object from its country or lineage of origin, usually in acknowledgement of an object returned by and intended specifically for a museum. Four examples of propatriated house posts and totem poles by the Tlingit artists Nathan and Stephen Jackson serve as the primary case studies for this new practice in the NAGPRA era, a practice that allows Tlingit narratives to be inserted into the museum space.
