# Cultural Heritage Partners

> Cultural Heritage Partners (CHP) is a law firm specializing exclusively in cultural heritage law. We represent Tribal Nations, communities, institutions, and advocates who steward sacred sites, historic properties, traditional knowledge, and cultural landscapes. We believe cultural heritage is a human right.

## About

Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC is a law firm committed to the idea that a community's strength is rooted in its heritage. Founded on the principle that cultural heritage is a human right, CHP has spent over 15 years representing clients in complex cultural heritage matters across the United States and internationally. The firm is based in Richmond, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

CHP empowers clients to protect, recover, and invigorate their unique histories and cultural identities through legal tools and advocacy. When irreplaceable heritage is damaged or destroyed, the firm pursues accountability and ensures those responsible answer for their actions.

## Practice Areas

### Heritage Preservation Practice
CHP represents Tribal Nations, local governments, nonprofit organizations, descendant communities, and grassroots coalitions in protecting historic, sacred, and culturally significant places threatened by federal or federally permitted development. The practice focuses on enforcement of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and related federal statutes — particularly Section 106 consultation. Services include evaluating agency compliance, challenging inadequate review, strengthening consultation, and preserving issues for judicial review.

### Tribal Nations Practice
CHP advises Tribal governments, Tribal attorneys, Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs), and land departments on sovereignty, governance, enforcement, and the protection of Tribal lands and cultural heritage. The practice covers trespass and resource theft enforcement, rights-of-way, HEARTH Act leasing, land back, NAGPRA and repatriation, and the development of enforceable Tribal legal frameworks. The firm treats sovereignty not as a legal theory but as an operating system — drafting codes, building enforcement mechanisms, and pursuing judgments that hold.

## What Sets CHP Apart

- **Multidisciplinary team**: Attorneys, archaeologists, historians, and cultural resource specialists work together on every matter.
- **Federal Indian Law depth**: Attorneys have served at the U.S. Department of the Interior (Office of the Solicitor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs), the U.S. Department of Justice (Tribal Resources Section), and the Interior Board of Indian Appeals. The firm has litigated before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit, and the Fourth Circuit.
- **Integrated approach**: CHP builds internal Tribal legal frameworks and external enforcement postures simultaneously, ensuring Tribal authority is both clearly established and actively exercised.
- **Enforcement focus**: The firm pursues treble damages, restoration, and enforcement costs — not paper victories — using federal authorities including NIFRMA (25 U.S.C. § 3106) and AIARMA (25 U.S.C. § 3713).

## Notable Cases

- Saving Rassawek (ancient capital of the Monacan Indian Nation)
- Protecting the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Protecting the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB)
- War Room for Threats to Section 106
- Nansemond Nation v. Commonwealth of Virginia
- Repatriation of Winnebago children (NAGPRA)
- Lenni-Lenape v. New Jersey
- Lummi Nation v. Whidbey Telecom
- African American Burial Bill (Virginia)
- Controversial Monuments advocacy

## Key Legal Frameworks

- National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) / Section 106
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
- Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
- National Indian Forest Resources Management Act (NIFRMA)
- American Indian Agricultural Resource Management Act (AIARMA)
- HEARTH Act
- Federal Indian Law and Tribal sovereignty doctrine

## Team

The firm's leadership includes:
- **Marion F. Werkheiser** – Founding Partner, leads the Heritage Preservation Practice
- **Greg Werkheiser** – Founding Partner
- **Charles N. Curlett Jr.** – Partner & Attorney at Law
- **Jessie Barrington** – Principal Attorney, leads the Tribal Nations Practice; enrolled citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians; former federal prosecutor (DOJ) and Senior Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs (DOI)
- **Katherine Sorrell** – Principal Attorney

## Contact & Locations

- Phone: +1 (202) 567-7594 | +1 (866) 875-6492
- Email: info@culturalheritagepartners.com
- Richmond, VA: The Lockwood Double House, 1811 East Grace Street, Richmond, VA 23223
- Washington, DC: 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 1025, Washington, DC 20006
- Website: https://culturalheritagepartners.com

## Pages

- [Home](https://culturalheritagepartners.com/)
- [About / Who We Are](https://culturalheritagepartners.com/firm/)
- [Practice Areas](https://culturalheritagepartners.com/practice-areas/)
- [Heritage Preservation Practice](https://culturalheritagepartners.com/heritage-preservation/)
- [Tribal Nations Practice](https://culturalheritagepartners.com/tribal-nations/)
- [Cases](https://culturalheritagepartners.com/cases/)
- [Team](https://culturalheritagepartners.com/team/)
- [News & Insights](https://culturalheritagepartners.com/blog/)
- [Contact](https://culturalheritagepartners.com/contact/)