[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 168 (Thursday, August 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 60233]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18826]



[[Page 60233]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036501; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: St. Joseph 
Museums, Inc., St. Joseph, MO

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 St. Joseph Museums, Inc., intends to 
repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of an 
unassociated funerary object and certain cultural items that meet the 
definition objects of cultural patrimony, and that have a cultural 
affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice. The cultural items were removed from Lincoln, NE, and from 
somewhere near St. Louis, MO.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after October 2, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Tori Zieger; St. Joseph Museums, Inc., P.O. Box 8096, St. 
Joseph, MO 64508, telephone (816) 752-2778, email 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#097d667b60497a7d63667a6c7961647c7a6c7c6427667b6e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="13677c617a536067797c6076637b7e666076667e3d7c6174">[email protected]</span></a>.

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 
St. Joseph Museums, Inc. 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 St. Joseph 
Museums, Inc.

Description

    Two objects of cultural patrimony were removed from Lincoln, 
Nebraska. The two objects of cultural patrimony are an Osage ``war'' 
bundle and a Song List for a Counting Stick. They were purchased by 
Harry L. George on two separate occasions in 1915. The Harry L. George 
Collection of approximately 4,000 American Indian items became the 
cornerstone of the St. Joseph Museum in the 1940s.
    One unassociated funerary object was removed from somewhere near 
St. Louis, Missouri. The unassociated funerary object is a ``wampum''/
shell bead necklace with a projectile point. It was collected from a 
grave in 1889.

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: archeological, historical, 
and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the St. Joseph Museums, Inc. has determined that:
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> Two 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.
    <bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and The Osage Nation.

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 October 2, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the St. Joseph Museums, Inc. 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 St. Joseph Museums, Inc. 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: August 23, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-18826 Filed 8-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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