Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE, 2126-2127 [2023-00471]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2126-2127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00471]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035099; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of 
Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, NE

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 University of Nebraska State Museum 
intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition 
of sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony and that have a 
cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations in this

[[Page 2127]]

notice. The cultural items were removed from an unknown location.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after February 13, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Taylor Ronquillo, University of Nebraska State Museum, 900 N 
16th Street, Lincoln, NE 68508, telephone (402) 472-6592, 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 
University of Nebraska State Museum. 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 University of Nebraska State Museum.

Description

    The 14 cultural items were removed from an unknown location. The 
only information provided to the University of Nebraska State Museum 
(UNSM) concerning their provenience was that they share a geographical 
location of the Northwest Coast.
    On May 24, 2021, the UNSM obtained ownership of 1,355 objects from 
the Joslyn Art Museum (JAM). JAM had obtained ownership of this 
collection from the Omaha Public Library on December 10, 2020. Among 
these 1,355 objects were 13 cultural items--two sacred objects and 11 
objects of cultural patrimony--from the Northwest Coast Region. The two 
sacred objects are one seal drag and one dew claw rattle. The 11 
objects of cultural patrimony are three baskets, one spoon, three 
hooks, one slate adz, two harpoon heads, and one harpoon.
    In 1892, Harvey Shotwell donated a spirit canoe to UNSM. There only 
information accompanying this donation was that the item came from the 
Northwest Coast Region. This spirit canoe is a sacred object.
    On September 16, 2022, during consultation between the 
Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians of Washington and the UNSM, tribal 
representatives identified the spirit canoe, the seal drag, and the dew 
claw rattle as sacred objects and the three baskets, the spoon, the 
three hooks, the slate adz, the two harpoon heads, and the harpoon as 
objects of cultural patrimony, and they also requested the repatriation 
of these 14 cultural items. According to information provided by the 
Tribe, these items are typical of the region, similar items have been 
used in ceremonial ways by the Tribe, and local Tribal artists still 
create similar items today.

Cultural Affiliation

    The cultural items in this notice are 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 and oral 
traditional.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the University of Nebraska State Museum has determined 
that:
     Three of the cultural items described above are specific 
ceremonial objects needed by traditional Native American religious 
leaders for the practice of traditional Native American religions by 
their present-day adherents.
     Eleven of the cultural items described above have ongoing 
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native 
American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an 
individual.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Stillaguamish 
Tribe of Indians of Washington (previously listed as Stillaguamish 
Tribe of Washington).

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
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 items in this notice to a requestor 
may occur on or after February 13, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of Nebraska State Museum 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 University of Nebraska 
State Museum 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, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: January 4, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-00471 Filed 1-11-23; 8:45 am]
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