[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 204 (Tuesday, October 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84392-84393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24416]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038923; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: Museum of Us, San Diego, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Museum of Us intends to repatriate 
certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated 
funerary objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian 
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after November 21, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Carmen Mosley, NAGPRA Repatriation Manager, Museum of Us, 
1350 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101, telephone (619) 239-
2001 Ext. 42, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#80e3edeff3ece5f9c0edf5f3e5f5edefe6f5f3aeeff2e7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8be8e6e4f8e7eef2cbe6fef8eefee6e4edfef8a5e4f9ec">[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 
Museum of Us, and additional information on the determinations in this 
notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the 
summary or related records. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    A total of 12 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. 
The 12 unassociated funerary objects are from three separate 
acquisitions.
    In December of 1954, Adele Ronecker of San Diego, CA, donated one 
blade from Stewart County, TN and one bird effigy pipe from 
Southeastern United States to the San Diego Museum of Man (now Museum 
of Us), along with a collection of 112 other Native American cultural 
items from California, Texas, New Mexico, Southeastern United States, 
Mexico and Southeast Asia. Acquisition records indicate that Ms. 
Ronecker received the cultural items from Lemley Osborne of Las Cruces, 
New Mexico.
    In May of 1955, the San Diego Museum of Man (now Museum of Us) 
purchased one shell gorget from Hamilton County, TN, along with 11 
other Native North American items,

[[Page 84393]]

from Earl Townsend Jr., an attorney from Indianapolis, IN. The donor 
collected the gorget from a mound in the Tennessee River at the mouth 
of the Chickamauga Creek.
    In July of 1957, George A. Leupold of San Diego, CA, donated seven 
lanceolate points and one adze from Sparta, White County, TN, and one 
discoidal from Tyron, Polk County, NC, to the San Diego Museum of Man 
(now Museum of Us). This acquisition included an additional 57 Native 
American cultural items (e.g., points, axes, ceramic sherds, bone awls, 
and discoidals) from Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, and 
adjoining areas. The Museum of Us has no additional information on how 
and/or when Mr. Leupold acquired the aforementioned items.

Determinations

    The Museum of Us has determined that:
    <bullet> The 12 unassociated funerary objects described above are 
reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near 
individual human remains, and are connected, either 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 an individual or individuals with cultural 
affiliation to an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
    <bullet> There is a reasonable connection between the cultural 
items described in this notice and the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of 
Cherokee Indians; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified 
in this notice under 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 November 21, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Museum of Us 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 Museum of Us is responsible for sending a 
copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice and to any other consulting 
parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

    Dated: October 11, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-24416 Filed 10-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>