[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 45146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17089]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession 
of the Kennedy Museum of Art, Ohio University, Athens, OH

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    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 Kennedy Museum of Art, Ohio 
University, Athens, OH, that meet the definitions of ``sacred object'' 
and ``object of cultural patrimony'' under Section 2 of the Act.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2 (c). The 
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of these 
cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    The cultural items are ceremonial bundles of faunal materials, 
minerals, leather, feathers, and cloth, including one offering kit, one 
paint kit, one feather wand, three gourd rattles, one hide rattle, two 
buckskin saddlebags, one abalone shell, two silver stamps, one watching 
stone, and other assorted shells, stones, and arrowheads. Collectively 
these items are referred to as jish, representing universal objects 
used in four Navajo chantways: Windway, Mountainway, Shootingway, and 
Evilway.
    The jish was donated to the Kennedy Museum of Art in January 1993 
by Tobe A. Turpen, Jr. In correspondence with the museum in 1993, Mr. 
Turpen stated that the jish had been given to his father, Tobe Turpen, 
Sr., sometime before 1950 by Hosteen Left Hand, a Navajo Hataalii.
    Representatives of the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah 
state that the Windway, Mountainway, Shootingway, and Evilway are four 
chants still performed by the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & 
Utah. Bundles for these chants should only be in the possession of a 
qualified Hataalii (chanter, singer, or medicine person) capable of 
understanding the jish. In Navajo tradition, jish can only be cared for 
by an individual; it is not ``property'' and cannot be ``owned.'' 
Documentation associated with the jish and information provided by 
representatives of the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah 
confirm that a relationship exists between the original makers of the 
ceremonial bundles and the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah.
     Based on the above information, officials of the Kennedy Museum of 
Art, Ohio University have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(3), these 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 Kennedy Museum of Art, Ohio University, have also 
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(4), these cultural items 
have ongoing historical, traditional, and cultural importance central 
to the tribe itself, and may not be alienated, appropriated, or 
conveyed by any individual tribal or organizational member. Lastly, 
officials of the Kennedy Museum of Art, Ohio University have determined 
that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship of shared 
group identity that can be reasonably traced between these cultural 
items and the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Navajo Nation, 
Arizona, New Mexico & Utah. Representatives of any other Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these objects 
should contact Dr. Jennifer McLerran, Curator, Kennedy Museum of Art, 
Ohio University, Lin Hall, Athens, OH 45701, telephone (740) 593-0952 
or (749) 593-1304 before August 7, 2002. Repatriation of these cultural 
items to the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah may begin after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: April 11, 2002.
Robert Stearns,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-17089 Filed 7-5-02; 8:45 am]
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