[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 245 (Monday, December 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76365-76366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29902]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-17145; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Honolulu Museum of 
Art, Honolulu, HI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Honolulu Museum of Art, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has 
determined that the cultural item listed in this notice meets the 
definition of an object of cultural patrimony. Lineal descendants or 
representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice that wish to claim this cultural item should 
submit a written request to the Honolulu Museum of Art. If no 
additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural 
item to the lineal descendants or Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian 
organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim this cultural item should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Honolulu Museum of Art at 
the address in this notice by January 21, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Stephan Jost, Director, Honolulu Museum of Art, 900 South 
Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96814, telephone (808) 532-8717, email 
sjost@honolulumuseum.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 a cultural item under the 
control of the Honolulu Museum of Art that meets the definition of an 
object of cultural patrimony 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 
that has control of the Native American cultural item. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item

    In the early 1920s, a totem pole was removed by John Barrymore from 
Tuxican in Alaska, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. In 
1981, it was given to Honolulu Museum of Art by Vincent and Mary Grant 
Price, who had obtained it from the estate of Barrymore. The one object 
of cultural patrimony is a Henya Tlingit totem pole, circa 1900, 
redwood with traces of polychrome, height 24\3/4\ ft.
    In a letter dated January 21, 2013, Don Nickerson, Jr. wrote to 
Stephan Jost of Honolulu Museum of Art requesting to consult on the 
object. As President of the Klawock Cooperative Association, the 
federally recognized IRA tribe of the Henya Tlingit people of Klawock, 
AK, Mr. Nickerson stated that one of their traditional villages was 
Tuxican, AK, on

[[Page 76366]]

the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. He further stated that this 
village was the location of numerous totem poles erected by their 
ancestors, most of which were mortuary poles dedicated to the memory of 
the deceased. Mr. Nickerson explained that according to information 
that they obtained, the pole was taken from the village site by the 
party of the actor John Barrymore who was traveling through the area by 
yacht. He explained that the village was not occupied at that time 
because residents had relocated to Klawock. In February 2013, the 
Klawock Cooperative Association sent their representative, the 
anthropologist Dr. Steve J. Langdon, to visit Honolulu Museum of Art to 
examine and photograph the totem pole.
    Dr. Langdon published a report dated March 1, 2013, titled, Tuxican 
Photo Commentary Related to Tlingit Pole Located as the Honolulu Museum 
of Art. In it he stated that ``Tlingit carver Jon Rowan, a descendant 
of Tuxican village residents now residing in Klawock, Alaska and myself 
consider the pole to be representative of Wuckitan clan crests of the 
Raven moiety. It was likely raised to commemorate the death of a wife 
of a high-ranking Tuxican chief of the Wolf moiety in the latter half 
of the 19th century.'' In a series of archival photographs Dr. Langdon 
identified the pole in the oldest known image of the entire village of 
Tuxican around the 1880s. He identified the totem pole in association 
with the surrounding houses and other totem poles and gives approximate 
dates, thereby establishing the precise identity of the totem pole and 
substantiating the claim of the Klawock Cooperative Association.

Determinations Made by the Honolulu Museum of Art

    Officials of the Honolulu Museum of Art have determined that:
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), the one totem pole 
described above has ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural 
importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, 
rather than property owned by an individual.
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the object 
of cultural patrimony and Klawock Cooperative Association.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Stephan Jost, Director, Honolulu Museum of 
Art, 900 South Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96814, telephone (808) 532-
8717, email sjost@honolulumuseum, by January 21, 2015. After that date, 
if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of 
the object of cultural patrimony to Klawock Cooperative Association may 
proceed.
    The Honolulu Museum of Art is responsible for notifying the Klawock 
Cooperative Association that this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 7, 2014.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-29902 Filed 12-19-14; 8:45 am]
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