As one of the final bill signings of 2022, President Biden signed into law the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony (STOP) Act (S. 1471 / H.R. 2930) on December 21. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation, strongly supported by the National Trust, would strengthen laws aimed at preventing trafficking in Native American cultural items and facilitate the voluntary return of sacred and cultural objects.

The Honorable Brian D. Vallo, Governor of Pueblo of Acoma—a National Trust co-stewardship site in New Mexico—testified as a witness in support of the bill at a May 2021 hearing before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States. The Senate passed the bill unanimously at the end of November, following House passage last year.

At the White House Tribal Nations Summit in early December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposed to rescind Appendix C and instead follow the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s regulations and guidance for implementing Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Appendix C procedures have proved problematic for decades by narrowly defining undertakings, minimizing the Area of Potential Effects, and limiting consultation with Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, and other consulting parties. The Appendix C procedures have also been applied inconsistently, undermining the USACE’s ability to reliably steward America’s heritage. While the proposal is encouraging, the announcement is the first step of many and will likely take up to a year before Appendix C is rescinded.

Included within the omnibus package passed by Congress on December 23, 2022, were a smattering of public lands bills, including the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program. This program authorizes the National Park Service to establish a $3 million annual grant program to aid preservation efforts across the country to research, identify, document, preserve, and interpret historic African American burial grounds.

The provisions allow descendant-led and preservation organizations working to protect African American burial grounds to receive funding to preserve these sacred landscapes.

“Passage of the African American Burial Grounds bill sets a new precedent for how our nation values the cultural legacy and generational memory of African Americans and their contributions to society," says Brent Leggs, executive director, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president, National Trust for Historic Preservation. "We thank Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Representative Alma Adams (D-NC), the late Representative Don McEachin (D-VA), and other advocates for their bold vision to acknowledge the role of descendant-led stewardship as part of this bill and for their leadership to ensure its passage.”

The National Trust supported this legislation in a House Natural Resources hearing, a Senate Energy and National Resources hearing, and a webinar, “Historic African American Cemeteries,” hosted by Cultural Heritage Partners.

We are so thankful to all of you who shared your stories of African American burial grounds with our leaders in Congress during the PastForward advocacy opportunity. We now look forward to working with the Secretary of the Interior, partner organizations, and members of the African American heritage community on the implementation of the grant program. If you are looking for resources to protect a historic cemetery, learn more about the Action Fund grant programs and consider applying.