NAHC and the UCLA Law School Establish a Three-Year Tribal Cultural Resources Project for All CA Tribes

The California Native American Heritage Commission (“NAHC”), together with the UCLA School of Law’s Native Nations Law & Policy Center, recently established a Tribal Cultural Resources Project (“TCR Project”) within the law school’s existing Tribal Legal Development Clinic. The purpose of the TCR Project is to provide cultural resources protection capacity-building for Tribes in California, both federally recognized and non-federally recognized, that are seeking to protect and reclaim their cultural resources.

With support from the NAHC over a three-year period, the Project first plans to collaborate with a representative group of California Tribes in the spring of 2018 to gather information and assess needs. During this initial phase, supervised students in UCLA’s Tribal Legal Development Clinic will work with these Tribes to identify needs in the area of cultural resources protection and develop appropriate documents and protocols that can be used to focus TCR Project work to train students to assist Tribes in cultural resources protection.

Subsequently, the services may expand to include institution- and capacity- building for Tribes to participate effectively in federal, state, and local environmental review and related processes for purposes of protection of Tribal cultural resources. In addition, services may also be provided to assist in the repatriation and protection of the remains of Ancestors and tribal cultural properties.

All services will provided to California Tribes at no cost and will further the Project’s overall aim of creating materials, models, templates, and guides that can benefit all of California Indian country by empowering Tribes to be strong advocates for protection of their cultural resources.