[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 187 (Friday, September 26, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50622-50623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: X97-10926]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession 
of the Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given under the Native American Graves Protection 
and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3005 (a)(2), of the intent to 
repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Palm Springs Desert 
Museum which meet the definition of ``sacred object'' and 
``unassociated funerary object'' under Section 2 of the Act.
    The 22 cultural items consist of a ceremonial bundle, a clay pipe 
with red pigment, a bone whistle, two dance sticks, four feather wands, 
a set of twelve wooden counting sticks for peon; a set of eight pieces 
used in peon, a clay pipe; a set of flicker feather straps; an olla 
with red pigment; a tortoise shell rattle; a small mortar and pestle 
set; a gray fox headband; a coyote skin headband; a bear fur piece; two 
bone and asphaltum whistles; and a strand of shell, ceramic and stone 
beads.
    In 1954, the set of twelve wooden counting sticks for peon were 
donated to the Palm Springs Desert Museum by Cornelia B. White and A.E. 
Dickinson.
    In 1958, a clay pipe was donated to the Palm Springs Desert Museum 
by Randall Henderson who indicated it was found in Indio Heights.
    In 1961 and 1965, Dr. Lowell Bean, Anthropologist of the Palm 
Springs Desert Museum, purchased the ceremonial bundle, bone whistle, 
and two wooden dance sticks from unknown sources, and the tortoise 
shell rattle from Seraglio Welmas, a member of the Agua Caliente Band.
    In 1965, the set of flicker feather straps, a clay pipe, two bone 
and asphaltum whistles, four ceremonial feather wands, the coyote 
headband, the gray fox headband, the bear fur piece, and the peon game 
were donated to the Palm Springs Desert Museum from unknown sources.
    In 1985, a ceramic olla with red pigment was donated to the Palm 
Springs Desert Museum by Edward B. And Josefa Kaminski. This olla was 
removed from Tahquitz Canyon within the Agua Caliente reservation.
    In 1990, a small granite mortar and pestle were donated to the Palm 
Springs Desert Museum by Ms. Mary Elizabeth Redeker. During the 1970s, 
Ms. Redeker was given the mortar and pestle by Nina Paul Shumway, who 
found these items in the Coachella Valley, site unknown, around 1920.
    Consultation with representatives of the Agua Caliente Band of 
Cahuilla Indians indicates that the 21 items listed above are specific 
ceremonial objects used and worn in sacred ceremonies and needed by 
traditional Native American religious leaders for the practice of 
traditional Native American religion by their present-day adherents.
    In 1975, a strand of bone, shell, and stone beads exhibiting 
blackening was donated to the Palm Springs Desert Museum by Nina Paul 
Shumway. Consultation with representatives of the Agua Caliente Band of 
Cahuilla Indians indicate that such blackening is consistent with 
cremation, the traditional funerary practice of the Agua Caliente Band 
of Cahuilla Indians.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Palm 
Springs Desert Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 
3001(3)(B), the one strand of bone, shell, and stone beads is 
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 burial site of an Native American individual. 
Officials of the Palm Springs Desert Museum have also determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the remaining 21 cultural items are 
specific ceremonial objects needed by traditional Native American 
religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native American 
religions by their present-day adherents. Officials of the Palm Springs 
Desert Museum have also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), 
there is a relationship of shared group identity which can be 
reasonably traced between these 22 items and the Agua Caliente Band of 
Cahuilla Indians.

[[Page 50623]]

    This notice has been sent to officials of the Agua Caliente Band of 
Cahuilla Indians, the Cabazon Indians of California, the Cahuilla Band 
of Mission Indians, the Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians, the 
Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Indians, 
the Santa Rosa Reservation, the Soboba Band of Mission Indians, and the 
Torres-Martinez Band of Mission Indians. Representatives of any other 
Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with 
these objects should contact Katherine Hough, Director of Collections/
Exhibitions, 101 Museum Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262; telephone (760) 
325-7186 before October 27, 1997. Repatriation of these objects to the 
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians may begin after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations 
within this notice.
Dated: September 19, 1997.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 97- 25579 Filed 9-25-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F