Iowa Burials Protection Law: Iowa Time Machine January 27, 1976

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 27, 1976, the Iowa General Assembly debated the Iowa Burials Protection Law. The Iowa Burials Protection Law under consideration would become the first state legislation in the nation specifically designed to protect ancient burial sites from desecration and looting.

For centuries, Native American graves had been plundered by collectors, vandalized by treasure hunters, and excavated by archaeologists who treated Indigenous remains as specimens rather than ancestors. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the treatment of Native American burial sites in Iowa and across the country reflected deep disrespect for Indigenous cultures. Archaeologists routinely excavated burial mounds, removing human remains and grave goods for museum collections and academic study. Private collectors dug up burial sites in search of artifacts to sell or display. Construction projects regularly disturbed ancient graves with little regard for the people interred there.

The 1970s brought growing awareness of Native American rights and increased activism from Indigenous communities demanding the return of ancestral remains and protection for sacred sites. Iowa had more than 10,000 known prehistoric burial mounds, making the issue particularly urgent in the state. Maria Pearson, a Yankton Dakota activist, played a crucial role in pushing for protective legislation after learning that Native American remains were being treated differently than white remains at a construction site near Glenwood in 1971.

The law, which eventually passed into law and became the first of its kind in the United States, established a process for handling accidentally discovered remains and created protections for both marked and unmarked burial grounds. The principles established in 1976 informed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which Congress passed in 1990 to address these issues at the national level. #Iowa #OTD #History #IndigenousHistory #Archeology