[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 1, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11075-11076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4829]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession 
of the Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service.

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 
cultural items in the possession of the Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO 
which meet the definition of ``object of cultural patrimony'' under 
Section 2 of the Act.
    The five cultural items are a Motoki Society buffalo headdress 
bundle consisting of a parfleche and a cap made of bison fur with 
horns; a Motoki Society belt constructed from a bison tail; a Dog 
Society bundle consisting of parfleche and a feather headdress, the 
headdress has a leather cap and trailer with feathers (possibly hawk) 
attached; a Dog Society headdress which consists of a separate head 
piece and trailer or sash; and a Dog Society bundle consisting of a 
parfleche, dog skin sash, and a stick rattle covered with red flannel.
    The Motoki Society buffalo headdress bundle was in the keeping of a 
society member named Black Faced Woman until 1938, when her son, Jack 
Low Horn, sold this bundle to Madge Hardin Walters. In 1939, Walters 
sold the bundle to the Denver Art Museum where it was accessioned as 
1939.127. Oral traditions of the descendants of Black Faced Woman state 
that she died in 1946.
    The Motoki Society belt is a component of a Motoki Society buffalo 
headdress bundle which was in the keeping of a society member named 
Handsome Woman until her death in early 1938. In June 1938, Handsome 
Woman's daughter, Mrs. Strangling Wolf, sold the bundle to Madge Hardin

[[Page 11076]]

Walters. In 1939, Walters sold the bundle to the Denver Art Museum 
where it was accessioned as 1939.68. In 1948, this bundle was exchanged 
to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 
Cambridge, MA, but the belt was retained by the Denver Art Museum.
    In 1939, the Dog Society bundle was sold by its keeper, a citizen 
of the Piegan Nation named Bull Plume, to Percy Creighton, a citizen of 
the Blood Tribe. In April 1939, Creighton sold the headdress bundle to 
Madge Hardin Walters. In 1940, Walters sold this bundle to the Denver 
Art Museum where it was accessioned as 1940.157.
    In 1937, the Dog Society headdress was in the keeping of an unnamed 
woman who was probably a member of the Dog Society until her death in 
March or April of 1937. In April 1937, a citizen of the Blood Tribe 
named Big Sorrel Horse acquired the headdress and sold it to Madge 
Hardin Walters. In 1938, Walters sold this headdress to the Denver Art 
Museum, where it was accessioned as 1938.142.
    In 1938, the Dog Society sash bundle was sold by a man named 
Running Weasel to Percy Creighton, and that same year Creighton sold 
this bundle to Madge Hardin Walters. In January 1939, Walters sold this 
Dog Society sash bundle to the Denver Art Museum where it was 
accessioned as 1939.124. Creighton's correspondence to Walters contains 
the statement that the Dog Society wished to retain the bundle for 
society usage, but Running Weasel sold it anyway.
    Denver Art Museum records show that the above five cultural items 
originated from two societies of the Blood Tribe during the 1930s. 
Consultation in 1998 with representatives and religious leaders of the 
Blood Tribe confirm the identifications of the cultural items as 
originating from the two societies of the tribe. The Blood Tribe is one 
of four tribes comprising the Blackfoot Confederacy, which also 
includes the Blackfeet Nation, the Piegan Nation, and the Siksika 
Nation. The present-day Blackfoot Confederacy is descended from the 
four tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy as it existed during the 
1930s.
    The Blackfeet Nation, acting on behalf of the Blackfoot 
Confederacy, submitted a claim to the Denver Art Museum containing 
evidence showing that society organizations hold communal title to 
bundles which are ritually transferred from one keeper to the next. 
Denver Art Museum's analysis of the records of transactions showed that 
the individuals who sold each of the above five cultural items were 
acting as individuals who lacked authority to alienate these 
communally-owned cultural items.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the Denver 
Art Museum have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(4), these 
five cultural items have ongoing historical, traditional, and cultural 
importance central to the tribe itself, and could not have been 
alienated, appropriated, or conveyed by any individual and were 
considered inalienable at the time the objects were separated from the 
group. Officials of the Denver Art Museum 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 these items and the 
Blackfeet Nation on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Blackfeet 
Nation, Piegan Nation, Blood Tribe, and Siksika Nation).
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Blackfeet Nation and 
the Blackfoot Confederacy (Blackfeet Nation, Piegan Nation, Blood 
Tribe, and Siksika Nation). Representatives of any other Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these objects 
should contact Nancy J. Blomberg, Curator of Native Arts, Denver Art 
Museum, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO 80204; telephone: 
(720) 913-0161 before March 31, 2000. Repatriation of these objects to 
the Blackfeet Nation on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Blackfeet 
Nation, Piegan Nation, Blood Tribe, and Siksika Nation) may begin after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: February 24, 2000.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist, Manager, Archeology and 
Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 00-4829 Filed 2-29-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F