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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 106565-106566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31304]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039257; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

Notice of Intended Repatriation: The University of Kansas, 
Lawrence, KS

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 Kansas intends to 
repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of an 
unassociated funerary object and that has a cultural affiliation with 
the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or 
after January 29, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas Torma, University of Kansas, Office of Audit, 
Risk & Compliance, The University of Kansas, 1450 Jayhawk Boulevard, 
351 Strong Hall Lawrence, KS 66045, telephone (406) 850-2220, 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 Kansas, 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 one cultural item has been requested for repatriation. 
The one unassociated funerary object is a silver ring. The ring was 
taken from an Arapaho man named Wox-Ei-Bet', also known as Walks-a-Bed, 
after having been killed by an individual known only as ``K-''in 1874 
at Camp Supply, Indian Country--present day Fort Supply, Oklahoma. Wox-
Ei-Bet' had a great-great-great-grandson who is related to the 
Birdshead Family of the Southern Arapaho in Oklahoma. The Birdshead 
family has deferred to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma on 
this repatriation.
    The ring was given to the Benedictine College Museum in Atchison, 
KS by a person identified as R. Kitching, likely in the 1920s. Father 
Felix Nolte was the curator of the Benedictine College Museum and the 
items collected during his tenure are referred to as the Father Felix 
Nolte collection. The collections from Benedictine College were 
transferred to the University of Kansas Museum of Anthropology (KUMA) 
in 1998. KUMA closed to the public in August 2002 and the collections 
were renamed the Anthropological Research and Cultural Collections 
(ARCC) in July 2005. The collections were then transferred internally 
within the University of Kansas from the ARCC to the Spencer Museum of 
Art in January 2007.
    There is no known presence of any potentially hazardous substances 
used to treat the cultural item mentioned in this notice.

Determinations

    The University of Kansas has determined that:
     The one unassociated funerary object described in this 
notice is reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or 
near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death or 
later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American 
culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a 
lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The 
unassociated funerary object has been identified by a preponderance of 
the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or 
families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an 
individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe 
or Native Hawaiian organization.
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural item 
described in this notice and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 
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 item in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after January 29, 2025. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of Kansas must determine the 
most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests

[[Page 106566]]

for joint repatriation of the cultural item are considered a single 
request and not competing requests. The University of Kansas 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: December 19, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-31304 Filed 12-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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