National Park Service December 18, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Southern Oregon Historical Society has corrected an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects published in a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register on August 24, 2012. This notice corrects the list of tribes consulted and the tribes eligible to receive disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects listed in the earlier notice. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Southern Oregon Historical Society. Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward.

The Museum of Anthropology has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribe, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary objects may contact the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University. Repatriation of the human remains associated funerary items to the tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward.

The Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst College (formerly the Pratt Museum of Natural History) has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian tribes. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst College. Repatriation of the human remains to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee (Review Committee) was established by Section 8 of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA; 25 U.S.C. 3006), and is an advisory body governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C. 1-16). At its November 17-19, 2010 public meeting in Washington, DC, and acting pursuant to its statutory responsibility to convene the parties to a dispute relating to the identity and return of cultural items, and to facilitate the resolution of such a dispute, the Review Committee heard a dispute between the Hoonah Indian Association, joined by the Huna Totem Corporation, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The issues before the Review Committee were (1) whether, in their request for the repatriation of 38 catalogued objects deriving from the Snail House and one catalogued object deriving from the Eagle's Nest House that are in the possession of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the requestors proved that all the requested objects are both ``sacred objects'' and objects of ``cultural patrimony,'' as these terms are defined in NAGPRA; and (2) whether, in response to the request for the repatriation of the 39 catalogued objects, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology presented evidence proving that the Museum has a ``right of possession'' to any of the objects, as this term is defined in the NAGPRA regulations. The Review Committee found that all of the requested objects are both sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony, and that the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology does not have a right of possession to any of those cultural items. The Review Committee meeting transcript containing the dispute proceedings and Review Committee deliberation and findings is available from the National NAGPRA Program upon request (NAGPRA_Info@nps.gov).

The U.S. Department of Defense, Army, Fort Sill Museum, and the Museum of the Great Plains have completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and have determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the remains and any present-day Indian tribe. Representative of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Fort Sill Museum. Disposition of the human remains to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional requestors come forward.