[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 169 (Friday, August 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50986-50987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20097]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Denver Museum of 
Nature & Science, Denver, CO

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 Denver Museum of 
Nature & Science, Denver, CO, 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 Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    On February 24, 1965, the collectors Mary W.A. and Francis V. Crane 
acquired 18 silver Seminole pendants from the antiquities dealer Howard 
B. Roloff. Records from the purchase transaction noted that the ``4 
dark ones are from a burial over 100 years old.'' In 1968, the Cranes 
donated the Seminole pendants to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science 
(then Denver Museum of Natural History) (Accession Numbers AC.7940A-D). 
The museum exhibited the four pendants in its ``Seminole Silver Case'' 
between 1976 and 1980.
    Historical and archeological evidence establish that Seminole and 
Miccosukee people have been residents in central and southern Florida 
for at least several hundred years. In consultations, representatives 
of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida; Seminole Nation of 
Oklahoma; and Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, 
Hollywood & Tampa Reservations confirmed their affiliation with earlier 
historic American Indians in Florida and confirmed that the four 
pendants were very likely Seminole burial objects. Descendants of the 
Seminole are members of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida; 
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big 
Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations.
    Officials of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the four 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 to have been removed from a 
specific burial site of a Native American individual. Officials of the 
Denver Museum of Nature & Science 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 cultural items and the 
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; 
and Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood 
& Tampa Reservations.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact Dr. Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, NAGPRA Officer, Department of 
Anthropology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado 
Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205, telephone (303) 370-6378, before September 
29, 2008. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary items to the 
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; 
and Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood 
& Tampa Reservations may proceed after that date

[[Page 50987]]

if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is responsible for notifying 
the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida; Seminole Nation of 
Oklahoma; and Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, 
Hollywood & Tampa Reservations that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 4, 2008.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-20097 Filed 8-28-08; 8:45 am]
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