Morghan Vélez Young

At Johns Hopkins, Morghan Vélez Young is a lecturer in the MA in Cultural Heritage Management program.

Vélez Young has worked professionally and academically in community- and Tribal government-based programs and museums. Her academic and professional interests include legal anthropology, community-based decolonization movement-building, cultural heritage, cultural resource management, and Native youth programming. She is the author of multiple books, book chapters, academic articles, and museum reports that engage contentions in Western legal systems.

Vélez Young teaches Understanding NAGPRA, Repatriation Laws and Ethical Practice. She holds a BA in anthropology from Fresno State University, a Graduate Certificate from Montana State University-Bozeman in Native American Studies, and a PhD in the anthropology of education from Stanford University. Her roles in NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA in museums and universities include research and preparation for repatriation of Indigenous ancestral remains, coordination of diplomatic meetings for Tribal and state governments, and tracking the curricular use of Indigenous materials and knowledge systems in university courses.

Her family is Choctaw and Cherokee by way of her paternal line. The Indigenous lands are located in the current settler named regions of the Carolinas to Alabama. She is also Mexican American by way of her maternal family. Her family and heritages inspire her contributions to advancing awareness of diverse governmental systems and the government-to-government relationships surrounding the repatriation/rematriation of Indigenous ancestors and materials to Tribal governments.