Traditional Cultural Properties : a potential tool for community-driven historic preservation
type: CreativeWork
description: National Register Bulletin 38: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties was first published in 1990 as a response to the Secretary of the Interior's report Cultural Conservation. Submitted to Congress and the President in 1983, Cultural Conservation "recommended in general that traditional cultural resources...be more systematically addressed in implementation of the National Historic Preservation Act and other historic preservation authorities." Bulletin 38 defined Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs), as those "whose significance is derived from the role the property plays in a community's historically rooted beliefs, customs, and practices." Bulletin 38 provides guidance in determining whether properties of traditional cultural significance are potentially eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). This thesis investigates whether or not the NRHP Criteria, and guidelines set forth in Bulletin 38, provide adequate protection for non-tribal TCPs under the NHPA. An outline of applicable federal regulations and procedures for identification and evaluation of historic properties provides a framework for evaluating TCPs. Examination of four cases studies, Mt. Graham, Bighorn Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain, the Dune Shacks of the Peaked Hill Bars, and Gladesmen Folk Culture, illustrates several fundamental difficulties in the treatment of TCPs. First, emphasis on professionalization within the fields of Cultural Resource Management and Historic Preservation has discouraged consideration of community perspectives in the identification and evaluation of both tribal and non-tribal historic sites. Second, divergent viewpoints between federal agencies, Native American tribes, professional practitioners, and individual communities prevent meaningful consultation and cooperation. Third, the existing standards and guidelines for identification and evaluation of TCPs are vague, and subject to variable interpret…
abstract: National Register Bulletin 38: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties was first published in 1990 as a response to the Secretary of the Interior's report Cultural Conservation. Submitted to Congress and the President in 1983, Cultural Conservation "recommended in general that traditional cultural resources...be more systematically addressed in implementation of the National Historic Preservation Act and other historic preservation authorities." Bulletin 38 defined Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs), as those "whose significance is derived from the role the property plays in a community's historically rooted beliefs, customs, and practices." Bulletin 38 provides guidance in determining whether properties of traditional cultural significance are potentially eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). This thesis investigates whether or not the NRHP Criteria, and guidelines set forth in Bulletin 38, provide adequate protection for non-tribal TCPs under the NHPA. An outline of applicable federal regulations and procedures for identification and evaluation of historic properties provides a framework for evaluating TCPs. Examination of four cases studies, Mt. Graham, Bighorn Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain, the Dune Shacks of the Peaked Hill Bars, and Gladesmen Folk Culture, illustrates several fundamental difficulties in the treatment of TCPs. First, emphasis on professionalization within the fields of Cultural Resource Management and Historic Preservation has discouraged consideration of community perspectives in the identification and evaluation of both tribal and non-tribal historic sites. Second, divergent viewpoints between federal agencies, Native American tribes, professional practitioners, and individual communities prevent meaningful consultation and cooperation. Third, the existing standards and guidelines for identification and evaluation of TCPs are vague, and subject to variable interpret…
author: Lapham, Rebecca Scott
language: eng
keywords: Traditional Cultural Properties, Historic preservation, Section 106, National Register Bulletin 38
date published: 2012-05
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:01:08Z
provider: University of Texas
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Texas at Austin

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2012-05-5130