Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, OK, 39782 [2018-17216]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 155 (Friday, August 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 39782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17216]



[[Page 39782]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0026040; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Thomas Gilcrease 
Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, OK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art 
(Gilcrease Museum), in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes 
or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural item 
listed in this notice meets the definition of unassociated funerary 
object. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim this cultural item should submit a written request to the 
Gilcrease Museum. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of 
control of the cultural item to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, 
or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim this cultural item should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Gilcrease Museum at the 
address in this notice by September 10, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Laura Bryant, Anthropology Collections Manager, Thomas 
Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, 1400 North Gilcrease 
Museum Road, Tulsa, OK 74127, telephone (918) 596-2747, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate a cultural item under the 
control of the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK, that meets the definition 
of unassociated funerary object under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American cultural item. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item

    In the early to mid-1900s, one cultural item was removed from a 
burial in Lee County, MS. A note with the item includes the name W. C. 
Wyman. Wyman's relationship to the burial site is unclear. The note 
also states that the item in question was found ``with other relics, 
silver, brass'' and that it had been ``150 years since burial.'' None 
of these other items is in Gilcrease Museum's possession. Through the 
Gilcrease Foundation, Thomas Gilcrease purchased the item from Dr. T. 
Hugh Young of Nashville, TN prior to 1962. In 1963 or 1964, Young 
donated the item to the Gilcrease Museum, which is owned by the City of 
Tulsa. The unassociated funerary object in question is a Carters 
Quarter style whelk shell gorget (accession number 90.456).
    Though this shell gorget lacks a clear provenience, the details 
included in the note are consistent for Tupelo, MS, a well-known 
Chickasaw village site from the 18th century. The Carters Quarter style 
of gorget is often found in eastern Tennessee, in pre-18th century 
contexts. Consultation on Chickasaw customary practice indicated that 
this item was most likely manufactured in Tennessee and later when it 
had become an heirloom, that it was placed in the burial of a Chickasaw 
ancestor at Tupelo, Mississippi.

Determinations Made by the Gilcrease Museum

    Officials of the Gilcrease Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the one cultural item 
described above is reasonably believed to have been placed with or near 
individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the 
death rite or ceremony and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary object and The Chickasaw Nation.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
this cultural item should submit a written request with information in 
support of the claim to Laura Bryant, Gilcrease Museum, 1400 North 
Gilcrease Museum Road, Tulsa, OK 74127, telephone (918) 596-2747, email 
[email protected], by September 10, 2018. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
unassociated funerary object to The Chickasaw Nation may proceed.
    The Gilcrease Museum is responsible for notifying The Chickasaw 
Nation that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 13, 2018.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2018-17216 Filed 8-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P