Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: American Numismatic Society, New York, NY, 74444 [2022-26374]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 232 (Monday, December 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 74444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26374]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034954; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: American 
Numismatic Society, New York, NY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the American Numismatic Society intends to 
repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of an 
unassociated funerary object and that has a cultural affiliation with 
the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The 
cultural item was removed from Oregon.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or 
after January 4, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Gilles Bransbourg, Executive Director, American 
Numismatic Society, 75 Varick Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10013, 
telephone (212) 571-4470, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
American Numismatic Society. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional 
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results 
of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records held by 
the American Numismatic Society.

Description

    The one cultural item was removed from a Native American grave site 
in Oregon. In December of 1995, the item arrived at the American 
Numismatic Society in an anonymous envelope with the text ``Found in an 
Indian grave in Oregon, with a Northwest Token--From Geo. A. Piper(?) 
Christmas 1923--Piper's(?) Lincoln token.''
    The one unassociated funerary object is a bronze campaign medal or 
token issued by Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut 
around 1860. On the obverse is a right-facing bust of Abraham Lincoln 
and the following text: ``HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1860.'' The reverse 
depicts two men splitting logs, with a cabin in the background and the 
accompanying text: ``THE RAIL SPLITTER OF THE WEST.''
    After an internal review brought this previously unreported object 
to light, by email dated February 7, 2022, the Museum informed the Nez 
Perce Tribe and all Indian Tribes having ancestral associations with 
the modern state of Oregon, of the discovery of this item in the 
Museum's collection and its apparent affiliation with a Native American 
grave. In response, by email dated August 18, 2022, the Nez Perce Tribe 
requested repatriation of the item. The one unassociated funerary 
object is an 1860 Abraham Lincoln Campaign Medal.

Cultural Affiliation

    The cultural item in this notice is connected to one or more 
identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a 
relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier 
groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were 
used to reasonably trace the relationship: geographical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the American Numismatic Society has determined that:
     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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Nez Perce Tribe 
(previously listed as Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho).

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any lineal 
descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice who shows, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, that the requestor is a lineal descendant or a culturally 
affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
    Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after January 4, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the American Numismatic Society must 
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural items are considered a 
single request and not competing requests. The American Numismatic 
Society is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian 
Tribe identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: November 23, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-26374 Filed 12-2-22; 8:45 am]
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