Support the attendance of representatives at GBITNC meetings, maintain timely communications with repositories and Great Basin Tribes, and respond to request from Great Basin Tribes regarding information and assistance.

Resources Sharing
The GBITNC will foster mutual education and assistance, in the context of formal meetings of the GBITNC and through informal means, GBITNC Tribes agree to share with one another, as available and appropriate the following:

• Information concerning Great Basin culture and history in general, and the need and means for repatriation of Great Basin cultural items.

• Ideas and concerns regarding research on funding for, and protection and perpetration of Great Basin culture and cultural property.

• Human, technical, equipment, and monetary resources.

Repatriation
To support and assist efforts made by individual Tribes to repatriate cultural property, participating Tribes agree to:

• Work diligently to identify any and all Great Basin cultural property that is inappropriately, incorrectly, or incompletely labeled, documented, displayed, treated, published, or cared for.

• The repatriation of ancestral human remains will occur as expeditiously as possible and in the same burial location where the remains originated.  If it is not possible to reenter the remains to its original location and alternative location will be established.  All information regarding the existence of a known burial(s) shall be safeguarded by the Great Basin Tribes and not announced publicly.

• The GBITNC acts on behalf of its membership, pursuant to authority provided, to submit requests to any repository for information pertaining to Great Basin cultural items to be sent to appropriate Great Basin Tribes.

• Cooperate and collaborate in search of repatriation funding to further the goals of the GBITNC.

GBITNC Operation
The GBITNC will serve as a clearinghouse for all Great Basin Tribes and to ensure the respectful operation of the GBITNC activities as deemed appropriate.  The GBITNC will:

• Assume all remains found within the Great Basin are Native American until otherwise proven.

• The GBITNC will forward any and all information and documentation pertaining to Great Basin Tribal cultural property to the appropriate Tribe or group of Tribes in a timely manner.

• Initiate or support legal, administrative, or public relations actions initiated by one or more GBITNC Tribes against any person(s), corporation(s), organization (s), repository(s), federal, state, local agency or institution, or other activity of entity in order to implement repatriation activities and preservation of the integrity of Great Basin culture and history.

• Promote an understanding of the NAGPRA law and Tribal rights, promote Tribal advocacy for Great Basin issues, and implement public education regarding spiritual beliefs of the indigenous Great Basin People to maintain cultural traditions and customs.

• Develop and maintain a database for Great Basin Tribal cultural items on behalf of the GBITNC.

Conflict Resolution
To reduce and manage potential disputes, the GBITNC Tribes agree to:

• Maintain a spirit of mutual respect, and adherence to consensual decision making, and a commitment to the protection and perpetuation of Great Basin Culture.

• Confine, whenever possible, the scope of a dispute of factual matters that can be resolved or clarified through the consideration of information derived from oral history, genealogy, anthropology, history, archaeology, linguistics, and other cultural appropriate sources.

• Limit the scope of the dispute to the affected Tribes, except to the extent such Tribes agree to submit the dispute to arbitration by the GBITNC, whose decision shall be final.

Enforcement
To implement this policy, the participating Tribes hereby notify all repositories and other entities that:

• In exercising our right to repatriation, the GBITNC Tribes declare our exclusive right to determine the custody, care, treatment, storage, and disposition of Great Basin cultural property.

• The GBITNC have a legal interest in all cultural property found, discovered, or excavated within our ancestral homelands as we define such as lands including land within the boundaries of foreign nations.

• During cases of inadvertent discovery, the GBITNC will strive to keep the remains in the same location but understand that the burial may be moved to best protect the ancestor. We assert the right of consultation, which must consist of written notification to Tribal Leaders, Tribal GBITNC representatives, the GBITNC and conversation or face-to-face meeting(s) with the appropriate designated tribal representative(s).  Each agency must recognize that all material and information concerning ancestral human remains, cultural material, and sacred sites remain confidential at all times and consultation is not complete until the Tribe(s) say it is complete.

• Special circumstance may to the treatment of a burial(s) and/or sacred item(s) which will be determined through consultation.

• Because many cultural items have been excavated, acquired, or held by repositories and other entities without the permission of the appropriate Tribe, we expect all responsible repositories and other entities bear the entire costs of repatriation of such items.

• All repositories and entities are encouraged to provide funding to engage the services of our cultural leaders early in the planning stages of development activity.  The participating tribes will consider such funding to be a central element in good-faith compliance with applicable federal law, unless other evidence appears to the contrary.

• The GBITNC Tribes reserve the right to bring legal action, collectively or independently, against any repository or other entity or both for costs, damages, punitive damages and equitable relief regarding any manner pertaining to repatriation and the protection and preservation of Great Basin culture and history.

Terms