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(a) The Yurok Tribe cultural resource programs work to promote and protect all Yurok cultural resources throughout Yurok ancestral lands. The following describes the Tribe’s cultural resource programs and their functions:

(1) The Tribal archaeologist documents and records site damage, conducts field surveys, and performs research for compliance studies under the National Historic Preservation Act.

(2) The NAGPRA coordinator is responsible for managing inadvertent discoveries, intentional excavations, repatriation and disposition negotiations and transfers of cultural items and all other related functions under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

(3) The Tribal heritage preservation officer is responsible for dealing with cultural resources, particularly those eligible for or on the National Register of Historic Places, consultation for cultural resources within ancestral lands, concurrence for projects requiring Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, and authorizing Tribal cultural monitors, as well as for maintaining a Tribal Register of Historic Places and managing the Tribal inventory for the Yurok Reservation.

(b) The Tribal archaeologist, NAGPRA coordinator, and the Tribal heritage preservation officer have a role in ensuring this chapter is complied with, as well as gathering and providing pertinent information to the Tribal Council for permit issuance and to the Tribal Police and may act as an advisor to Court as requested.

(c) There are two committees of knowledgeable elders and community members that serve in an advisory capacity to staff and the Tribal Council for the purpose of cultural resources protection.

(1) The culture committee serves in two advisory functions. The primary function is to advise the Tribal heritage preservation officer under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act per the memorandum of understanding between the Yurok Tribe and the National Park Service. The second function is as an advisory body to the Yurok Tribal Council, enabled by approved bylaws as adopted by the Tribal Council.

(2) The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) committee serves as an advisory group to the Yurok Tribal Council. This committee is enabled by their approved bylaws as adopted by the Tribal Council to advise the Tribal Council on all matters involving repatriation, disposition, reburial, excavation, legal and illegal removal of human remains, funerary objects, and cultural items of the Yurok Tribe and members, as well as matters involving repatriation from museums or federal agencies. [Ord. 22 § 9, amended, 9/9/2009.]