FY2022 NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation Grants | P22AS00103

Opportunity Information: Apply for P22AS00103

The FY2022 NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation Grants opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P22AS00103) is a discretionary grant program administered by the National Park Service under CFDA 15.922. Its core purpose is to fund projects carried out under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) that help move cultural items through the practical steps needed for responsible decisions about control, care, and return. In plain terms, the program is meant to pay for the work that helps tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and eligible museums consult with one another and build the factual record needed to resolve NAGPRA responsibilities, including repatriation and disposition.

Grant funds must be used specifically for either consultation projects, documentation projects, or a combination of the two. Consultation projects are designed to support direct engagement between museums and Tribes/Native Hawaiian organizations around NAGPRA compliance tasks, particularly work tied to revising a NAGPRA inventory and to making or responding to repatriation requests for items that appear in a NAGPRA summary. Documentation projects focus on developing the underlying evidence needed to make informed NAGPRA determinations. This can include research and analysis to establish the geographical origin and cultural affiliation of Native American cultural items, as well as clarifying basic facts about how the items were acquired. Both project types are expected to lead toward concrete outcomes such as determining control, deciding on appropriate treatment, completing repatriation actions, and addressing disposition where applicable, rather than stopping at purely academic research.

Eligibility is centered on three main applicant groups. First, Indian Tribes and Alaska Native villages are eligible, with the opportunity using the standard NAGPRA meaning of an Indian Tribe: any tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians, including Alaska Native villages, that is recognized as eligible for federal programs and services due to its status. The Department of the Interior interprets this as applying to the 574 federally recognized Tribes and Alaska Native villages, and applicants are directed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs list of federally recognized Tribes (available through bia.gov). The listing note is important because it clarifies that Alaska regional or village corporations are not included as Tribes for eligibility purposes, although they may participate as partners on a project.

Second, Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHOs) may apply. The opportunity defines an NHO as an organization that serves and represents Native Hawaiian interests, has a primary and stated purpose of providing services to Native Hawaiians, and has expertise in Native Hawaiian affairs. NAGPRA specifies that this category includes the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which is explicitly noted in the eligibility language.

Third, certain museums may apply, but only if they meet NAGPRA-related prerequisites. Eligible museums are those that have control of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony and that have received federal funds. The term "museum" is used broadly and can include state or local government agencies, private institutions, and colleges or universities, as long as they have received federal funds and have control of covered items. A key condition is that the museum must already have completed and provided required NAGPRA documents to the National NAGPRA Program and to relevant Tribes or NHOs before submitting a grant application. Specifically, museums must have completed a NAGPRA Summary of cultural items in their possession or control (originally due by November 16, 1993, or later based on the timelines in 43 CFR 10.13) and a NAGPRA Inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects in their possession or control (originally due by November 16, 1995, or later according to 43 CFR 10.13). The announcement also clarifies that a museum that has not yet completed a summary or inventory can become eligible if it completes those documents before submitting the proposal. At the same time, museums determined to be out of compliance with NAGPRA may be excluded from consideration, reinforcing that the grant program is meant to accelerate and support compliance rather than substitute for baseline legal obligations.

Several entities are explicitly not eligible. Federal agencies and the Smithsonian Institution may not apply for these grants. In addition, applicants who previously received a NAGPRA grant and failed to meet grant agreement conditions, including required reports or deliverables, can be penalized during the review process, which signals that past performance and follow-through matter in award decisions.

The published opportunity information indicates an award ceiling of $100,000 per grant. The original closing date for applications was March 11, 2022, and the opportunity record shows a creation date of December 1, 2021. Eligible applicant types listed in the opportunity data include federally recognized Tribal governments and other Tribal organizations, state and local governments, special district governments, public and private institutions of higher education, and certain nonprofits (including 501(c)(3) organizations), but the narrative eligibility requirements above are the controlling details for who can actually receive a NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation award and under what compliance conditions.

• The National Park Service in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY2022 NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.922.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-12-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-03-11. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for P22AS00103

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: