CULTURAL RESOURCES
The Tribal Historic Preservation Office is dedicated to protecting and preserving cultural resources. These nonrenewable resources, such as artifacts, sites, and landscapes, are an important connection to the past.

REPATRIATION PROGRAM
NAGPRA (Native American Graves and Repatriation Act provides a process for museums and Federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items — human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony — to lineal descendants, and culturally affiliated Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. The Tribal Historic Preservation Office, manages NAGPRA cases on behalf of the Tribe.

EDUCATION/OUTREACH PROGRAMS
The THPO is committed to providing outreach to the local community. Every year, staff from the Tribal Historic Preservation Office participate in the Tribe’s annual Winter Gathering Pow Wow, informing the public about the Tribe’s history and ways that the Tribe protects their cultural heritage.
The THPO’s outreach program has been developed for the general public to more specialized organizations and groups with specific interests. Staff from the THPO have provided PowerPoint preservations, lectures, speeches, and operate a booth with flyers and outreach material for the public.

CONSULTATION
The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians Tribal Historic Preservation Office assists in the process of intergovernmental consultation. The Tribal Historic Preservation Office helps preserve and protect cultural resources by identifying culturally sensitive areas, and works with Agencies to resolve adverse effects that a project could have on cultural resources.

CULTURAL MONITORING
The cultural monitoring program was established in 2016, allowing the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians to better protect and preserve cultural resources throughout the Chemehuevi Traditional Territory. Tribal Monitors, having traditional knowledge of ancestral territory, bring insight and a perceptive that allows for the identification of cultural materials that otherwise might not be understood and/or destroyed.