[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 25, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42919-42920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-20488]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: The Public Museum, 
Grand Rapids, MI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    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 cultural items in the possession of The Public Museum, 
Grand Rapids, MI, that meet the definition of ``unassociated funerary 
objects'' 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 cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the unassociated funerary objects was made 
by The Public Museum's professional staff in consultation with the 
Santa

[[Page 42920]]

Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, 
California.
    In 1909, The Public Museum purchased three cultural items from Dr. 
J.W. Velie. The donor's records stated that the cultural items had been 
removed from burial mounds in the Santa Barbara vicinity, CA. Any human 
remains that may have been removed from the burial mounds were not part 
of the 1909 Velie acquisition. The three unassociated funerary objects 
are two steatite stone bowls and one stone mortar.
    Museum documentation indicates that the cultural items were 
recovered from graves, and the types of items are consistent with other 
funerary objects found in the Santa Barbara area during the occupation 
of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California.
    Officials of The Public Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the three cultural items described above are 
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 specific burial sites of Native American individuals. 
Officials of The Public Museum also have determined that, 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 objects 
and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact Marilyn Merdzinski, Director of Collections and Preservation, 
The Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW., Grand Rapids, MI 49504, telephone 
(616) 456-3521, before September 24, 2009. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission 
Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California may proceed after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Public Museum is responsible for notifying the Santa Ynez Band 
of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 9, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-20488 Filed 8-24-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S