[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 208 (Wednesday, October 28, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57704-57705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-28807]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item in the Possession 
of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, 
Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM

AGENCY: National Park Service, DOI.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Notice is hereby given under the Native American Graves Protection 
and Repatriation Act, 43 CFR 10.10 (a)(3), of the intent to repatriate 
a cultural item in the possession of the Museum of Indian Arts and 
Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM 
which meets the definition of ``object of cultural patrimony'' under 
Section 2 of the Act.
    The cultural item is a leather cap constructed of buckskin, brass, 
silver, glass, and a feather.

[[Page 57705]]

    In 1934, this cultural item was purchased on the San Carlos Apache 
Reservation by the Laboratory of Anthropology. The Laboratory of 
Anthropology became part of the Museum of New Mexico in 1947.
    Representatives of the San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos 
Reservation have stated that this object has ongoing historical, 
traditional, and cultural importance central to the culture itself, and 
that no individual had the right to alienate this cultural item. 
Information regarding the status of this cultural item is being 
withheld from this notice by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/
Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico at the request of the 
representatives of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in order not to 
compromise the San Carlos Apache Tribe's code of religious practice.
    Officials of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of 
Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico have determined that, pursuant to 43 
CFR 10.2 (d)(4), this cultural item has ongoing historical, 
traditional, and cultural importance central to the culture itself, and 
could not have been alienated, appropriated, or conveyed by any 
individual. Officials of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/
Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico have also determined 
that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship of shared 
group identity which can be reasonably traced between this item and the 
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Fort McDowell Mohave-
Apache Indian Community of the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, the 
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, the Tonto Apache 
Tribe, the White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, 
and the Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Reservation. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these objects should contact Patricia House, 
Director, Museum of Indian Arts and Cultures/Laboratory of 
Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, NM 87504-
2087; telephone: (505) 827-6344 before November 27, 1998. Repatriation 
of these objects to the San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos 
Reservation 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: October 6, 1998.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 98-28807 Filed 10-27-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F