Native Agency, NAGPRA, and Museums

In this episode, Rose Campbell, Assistant Director of the Luskin Center for History and Policy, welcomes guests Stephen Aron and Joe Horse Capture of the Autry Museum of the American West to discuss the historical power imbalance between Native American tribes and museums. Historically, museums collected Native objects, and even human remains, through coercive or unethical means, reflecting a colonial mindset that prioritized research and display over Indigenous rights. Recent updates to Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act regulations in 2025 aim to strengthen tribal authority by incorporating Native knowledge and oral traditions when determining cultural significance. 

Stephen Aron is the Calvin and Marilyn Gross Director and President and CEO of the Autry Museum after a three-decade career as a professor of history, first at Princeton University and then at UCLA. He is the author of How the West Was Lost: The Transformation of Kentucky from Daniel Boone to Henry Clay, The American West: A Very Short Introduction, and Peace and Friendship: An Alternative History of the American West. 

Joe Horse Capture is the Vice President of Native Collections and Ahmanson Curator of Native History and Culture at the Autry Museum and a member of the A’aniiih tribe, from Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in north central Montana. He co-authored the collection book titled Masterworks of American Indian Art from the Diker Collection with David W. Penney. A second-generation museum professional, Horse Capture was the first director of Native A