<P> Tribes had many reasons based in law that made legislation concerning tribal grave protection and repatriation necessary . </P> <Ul> <Li> State Statutory Law: Historically, states only regulated and protected marked graves . Native American graves were often unmarked and did not receive the protection provided by these statutes . </Li> <Li> Common Law: The colonizing population formed much of the legal system that developed over the course of settling the United States . This law did not often take into account the unique Native American practices concerning graves and other burial practices . It did not account for government actions against Native Americans, such as removal, the relationship that Native Americans as different peoples maintain with their dead, and sacred ideas and myths related to the possession of graves . </Li> <Li> Equal Protection: Native Americans, as well as others, often found that the remains of Native American graves were treated differently from the dead of other races . </Li> <Li> First Amendment: As in most racial and social groups, Native American burial practices relate strongly to their religious beliefs and practices . They held that when tribal dead were desecrated, disturbed, or withheld from burial, their religious beliefs and practices are being infringed upon . Religious beliefs and practices are protected by the first amendment . </Li> <Li> Sovereignty Rights: Native Americans hold unique rights as sovereign bodies, leading to their relations to be controlled by their own laws and customs . The relationship between the people and their dead is an internal relationship, to be understood as under the sovereign jurisdiction of the tribe . </Li> <Li> Treaty: From the beginning of the U.S. government and tribe relations, the tribe maintained rights unless specifically divested to the U.S. government in a treaty . The U.S. government does not have the right to disturb Native American graves or their dead, because it has not been granted by any treaty . </Li> </Ul> <Li> State Statutory Law: Historically, states only regulated and protected marked graves . Native American graves were often unmarked and did not receive the protection provided by these statutes . </Li> <Li> Common Law: The colonizing population formed much of the legal system that developed over the course of settling the United States . This law did not often take into account the unique Native American practices concerning graves and other burial practices . It did not account for government actions against Native Americans, such as removal, the relationship that Native Americans as different peoples maintain with their dead, and sacred ideas and myths related to the possession of graves . </Li>

The study of native american burial sites is included in which field of anthropology