Grave Injustice is the powerful story of the ongoing struggle of Native Americans to repatriate the objects and remains of their ancestors that were appropriated, collected, manipulated, sold, and displayed by Europeans and Americans. Anthropologist Kathleen S. Fine-Dare focuses on the history and culture of both the impetus to collect and the movement to repatriate Native American remains.

Using a straightforward historical framework and illuminating case studies, Fine-Dare first examines the changing cultural reasons for the appropriation of Native American remains. She then traces the succession of incidents, laws, and changing public and Native attitudes that have shaped the repatriation movement since the late nineteenth century. Her discussion and examples make clear that the issue is a complex one, that few clear-cut heroes or villains make up the history of the repatriation movement, and that little consensus about policy or solutions exists within or beyond academic and Native communities.

The concluding chapters of this history take up the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which Fine-Dare considers as a legal and cultural document. This highly controversial federal law was the result of lobbying by American Indian and Native Hawaiian peoples to obtain federal support for the right to bring back to their communities the human remains and associated objects that are housed in federally funded institutions all over the United States.

Grave Injustice is a balanced introduction to a longstanding and complicated problem that continues to mobilize and threatens to divide Native Americans and the scholars who work with and write about them.

Kathleen S. Fine-Dare is a professor of anthropology and women's studies at Fort Lewis College. She is the author of Cotocollao: Ideologia, historia, y acci—n en un barrio de Quito.

"Fine-Dare presents a sensitive review of the American Indian repatriation movement and its legal basis in the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). . . . Strange as it may seem, some archaeologists still maintain that NAGPRA is a political move that threatens science. Therefore, Fine-Dare's book is required reading for students of anthropology at all levels."—Choice

"This work is a detailed, frank, and though-provoking look at the development and implementation of NAGPRA. It is extensively researched and illustrated with numerous well placed examples from Native American experience. . . . Despite its difficult, disturbing subject matter, this book is compelling reading. It is an excellent review of the cultural context of NAGPRA. . . . A valuable resource for individuals and organizations faced with the daunting, emotionally charged task of repatriation officers, museum curators, cultural leaders, anthroplogists, and legislators alike."—Amy Steffian, Alaska History

"Grave Injustice is a fine book that provides the reader with an understanding of the need for NAGPRA, the history of its passage and implementation to date, and the differing perceptions that people have of the law."—Sharon O'Brien, Western Historical Quarterly

"A tremendously important book…. With its clear prose, succinct overivew, and intellectual depth this text should be a welcome addition in Anthropology and History courses."—Katrine Barber, Journal of American Ethnic History

“Kathleen Fine-Dare’s book . . . should be required reading for all who are involved in any way with what we on the scientists’ side call ‘Heritage Property.’ It is a concise . . . insightful, thought-provoking, and often disturbing description and analysis of the history leading to NAGPRA and the subsequent attempts to implement it.”—Canadian Journal of Archaeology

“By offering a detailed account of the origins, provisions, and problems of NAGPRA, it will help readers to understand more deeply the ‘grave injustice’ worked upon the American Indians by the despoliation of their human remains and cultural objects.”—Francis Paul Prucha, Journal of Illinois History

“This book is essential reading for all native peoples and anthropologists interested in repatriation. It is highly recommended for use by university teachers seeking an engaging textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in anthropology and ethnic studies.”—T.J. Ferguson, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute