Connecticut General Statutes 47-61a – Records of traditional cultural knowledge submitted to public agency for cultural affiliation determination exempt from disclosure
(a) As used in this section, (1) “records of traditional cultural knowledge” means records containing information central to a community’s cultural and social identity, including, but not limited to, religious rites and rituals, location of sacred sites, kinship membership statistics and oral histories and traditions; (2) “tribal nation” means any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization, as defined under NAGPRA, or any tribe recognized by one or more state governments; and (3) “NAGPRA” means the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 USC 3001 et seq.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 47-61a
- Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
- Indian: means a person who is a member of any of the following tribes, Paucatuck Eastern Pequot, Mashantucket Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett and Mohegan. See Connecticut General Statutes 47-63
- Lineal descendant: Direct descendant of the same ancestors.
(b) Any record of traditional cultural knowledge submitted by a member, representative or lineal descendant of a tribal nation to any public agency, as defined in section 1-200, as part of the consultation process to determine cultural affiliation under NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, 43 C.F.R. § part 10, shall not be deemed a public record and shall not be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, as defined in section 1-200.