Who we are
Download our 15th Anniversary History booklet to learn of our progress over the years.
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is a landmark human rights law passed in 1990 that transformed how anthropologists, archaeologists, museums, and Native American communities work together. NAGPRA formally affirms tribal sovereignty and establishes a legal framework for tribes to repatriate their ancestors, cultural patrimony, and items with sacred and ceremonial significance. Its passage transformed the practice of archaeology in the field, labs, research institutions, and museums. Throughout its history, VVAC cultivated valuable working relationships with the Hopi, Yavapai and Apache. VVAC curates cultural objects and records originating in tribal communities and on their ancestral lands. These tribal resources are sources of community pride and are available for cultural traditional practitioners and tribal members to study. Since the passage of updated NAGPRA regulations and protocols in January 2024, VVAC has expanded its tribal partnerships as we continue to seek guidance about best practices for caring for and repatriating collections subject to NAGPRA.
OUR MISSION is to preserve archaeological sites and collections, to curate the collections locally, and to make them available for research and education; to develop partnerships with American Indians, cultural groups and the communities we serve; and to foster a deeper understanding of prehistory and American Indian history in the Verde Valley through the science of archaeology. VVAC respectfully provides representations of artifacts and cultural items.
We value the human adaptation to the Verde Valley and feel that both artifacts and archaeological sites should be protected and preserved as the top priority. An understanding of the past is a key to developing sustainability and the Center believes that the VVAC should provide a forum for the discussion of ideas about the past, present and future.