It was meant to be a compromise—a federal law to balance archaeological progress with the need to treat Native American ancestral remains with respect. But as a new Goldwater Institute report uncovers, ideological activists are weaponizing the well-intentioned law to grind scientific research to a halt and empty museums of important artifacts.
In the report, “The Reburial of the Southwest: Closing Off Native History and Archaeology,” Elizabeth Weiss, Ph.D., explains that the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, is being distorted by activists and regulators far beyond Congress’s original intent. Ancient remains that predate tribes by thousands of years and that once formed the foundation of archaeological research are being turned over to be reburied (i.e., destroyed), while risk-averse museum administrators are emptying their collections of modern Native American art and ordinary research materials—plant samples, animal bones, and even fossilized feces—under the banner of decolonization.
As the report concludes, the path forward lies not in abandoning NAGPRA but in restoring the balance Congress intended. The nation’s prehistoric past must continue to be studied and celebrated, not removed from public view and reburied.
Read more here.
Flying Goat Cellars is one of Central California’s most celebrated wineries, but government officials are making it harder for them to stay in business. Last year, Santa Barbara County passed an ordinance forcing all local wineries to join and fund a private vintners’ association. But that’s unconstitutional, which is why the Goldwater Institute has now filed a lawsuit to fight for Flying Goat’s independence.
Goldwater is challenging an ordinance the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved creating a Wine Business Improvement District, or Wine BID, which requires local wineries to be part of the Santa Barbara Vintners’ Association. The wineries are also required to pay a 1% assessment on sales to the association for regional marketing. But Flying Goat’s owners don’t agree with the association’s marketing efforts and don’t want to be part of the group—and the law is on their side.
The First Amendment prohibits the government from forcing Americans to subsidize speech they disagree with or associate with a private organization against their wishes. The Goldwater Institute is proud to fight for the right of Flying Goat’s owners to run their business as they see fit, without government interference.
Read more here.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, many Americans misunderstand the meaning of liberty—it’s not about access to things, but rather the right to make life choices without having to ask for the government’s permission, the Goldwater Institute’s Timothy Sandefur said in a new interview with USA Today.
“Liberty means that you are free to act and that nobody can take that from you,” Sandefur explained in the interview, part of the paper’s USA250 Outspoken project. “It doesn’t mean that you’re entitled to things—that you’re entitled to a house or free medical care or whatever it might be.”
Today, he added, many people deny the existence of the natural rights that the Founders took for granted and view society as a series of human constructs that can be altered to suit the needs of the day. “Unfortunately,” Sandefur said, “if your rights can be changed to suit the needs of the majority, then they aren’t actually rights to begin with.”
As we approach the nation’s 250th birthday, it’s as important as ever to defend the Founders’ vision of freedom and liberty, and to fight to ensure that the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” continues forever.
Read more here and sign up for a webinar with Timothy Sandefur discussing his new book Proclaiming Liberty here.
