This article asks why suspicion regarding the aims of anthropology has been
heightened in an era when anthropologists are perhaps engaged in more advocacy work
than ever.While it may seem contradictory or even ‘unfair’ that
anthropology continues to get a ‘bad rap’, this perception (of
and about all parties involved) is itself an important focus for anthropological
reflection. In this article, I examine an event that has contributed to this issue
in important ways - the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990 - to illustrate why suspicions about
anthropologists have taken on new dimensions, and to suggest what kind of approach
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