[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 32181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16023]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Bishop Museum, 
Honolulu, HI

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 Bishop Museum, 
Honolulu, HI, 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 cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    Five cultural items were collected from Kanupa Cave, South Kohala, 
HI, by J.S. Emerson and donated to the Bishop Museum in 1889, as part 
of the earliest of the Bishop Museum collections. The five unassociated 
funerary objects are three poi bowls, a wooden bowl and cover, and a 
fan.
    In 1939, nine cultural items were collected from Kanupa Cave, South 
Kohala, HI, by Kenneth Emory, a Bishop Museum staff member. The nine 
unassociated funerary objects are six pieces of aha, hau and olona 
cordage, and three mat fragments.
    The cultural affiliation of the cultural items is established as 
being Native Hawaiian through Bishop Museum records and consultation 
with the Hawaii Island Burial Council, Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i 
Nei, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Both Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O 
Hawai'i Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have requested 
repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects. Each qualifies as a 
Native Hawaiian organization under NAGPRA, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 
3001(11), and each is entitled to claim and receive the unassociated 
funerary objects.
    Officials of the Bishop Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 14 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, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have 
been removed from a specific burial site of a Native Hawaiian 
individual or individuals. Officials of the Bishop Museum 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 unassociated funerary objects and Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O 
Hawai'i Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Both Hui Malama I Na 
Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have requested 
repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects, and officials of the 
Bishop Museum cannot determine by the preponderance of the evidence 
which requesting party is the most appropriate claimant. Consequently, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.10 (c)(2), the Bishop Museum will retain the 
unassociated funerary objects until Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i 
Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs mutually agree upon the 
appropriate recipient or the dispute is otherwise resolved pursuant to 
NAGPRA or as ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.
    Representatives of any other Native Hawaiian organization that 
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the unassociated 
funerary objects should contact Betty Lou Kam, Vice President Cultural 
Resources, Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817, 
telephone (808) 848-4144, before August 6, 2009. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary objects to Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei 
and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs may proceed after that date when the 
affiliated Native Hawaiian organizations have mutually agreed upon a 
resolution.
    Bishop Museum is responsible for notifying the Hawaii Island Burial 
Council, Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, and the Office of 
Hawaiian Affairs that this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 18, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-16023 Filed 7-6-09; 8:45 am]
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