Jewel Touchin is an alum of the CHRM program, having received her master's degree in 2024. Her thesis is titled The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and Faunal Repatriation. Touchin’s thesis examines how animal remains have been treated as cultural material under NAGPRA, starting from the perspective that many tribal communities in the United States and globally treat animals as people and as ancestors. Jewel reviewed data on completed repatriations of dog remains and how they were categorized in NAGPRA inventories, and surveyed tribal resource managers, curators, bioarchaeologists, and faunal specialists regarding the attitudes towards and challenges to repatriation of animal remains. Her discussion connects with debates that informed development of the final rule published in 2023, on the narrow definition of human remains contained in the regulations, and reflects the influence of Native American perspectives in the repatriation process.

Following below is an archived profile.

Hi everyone, my name is Jewel Touchin and I’m from Arizona. I’m an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. My clans are Kiyaa’aanii (Towering House People), born for Tl’izi lani (Many Goats People), my maternal grandparents are Todich’ii’nii (Bitter Water People), and my paternal grandparents are Biih bitoodnii (Deer Springs People). I received my Bachelor of Arts from Arizona State University decades ago and since then have worked as an archaeologist with two Native American tribes, two national/international engineering firms, and am currently with a private environmental planning-community planning-landscape architecture-and-cultural resources firm. I spent years doing cultural resources compliance surveys, report writing, monitoring, literature searches, and assisting agencies with their consultation obligations. Most of my work has focused on infrastructure projects – roadways, water delivery systems, transmission lines, and a bit of solar and wind. Cultural resources work has been very rewarding. I’ve completed archaeological surveys across beautiful terrain, talked with some interesting and smart people, and have learned something new nearly every day of my career thus far. Even though I’ve done compliance work for years, I know I still have plenty to learn about cultural resources management.