[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 133 (Thursday, July 11, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45991-45992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17085]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item in the Possession 
of the Antelope Valley Indian Museum, Lancaster, CA, and in the Control 
of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with the Native American 
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.10 (a)(3), 
of the intent to repatriate a cultural item in the possession of the 
Antelope Valley Indian Museum, Lancaster, CA, and in the control of the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, CA, that 
meets the definition of ``unassociated funerary object'' 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 one cultural item is a wedding blanket made of white cotton. 
The dates of fabrication and/or use are unknown. The blanket was 
donated by an unidentified resident of Oraibi Village, Third Mesa, in 
Arizona, to the Antelope Valley Indian Museum, Lancaster, CA, in 1954. 
The owner of the museum, Grace W. Oliver, donated the blanket to the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation in 1979.
    Departmental records indicate that it was taken from a burial cave 
that was disturbed as a result of construction activities. Information 
provided by representatives of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and of the 
village of Oraibi substantiates cultural affiliation of the blanket 
with the Hopi Tribe of Arizona.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation have determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2)(ii), this cultural item 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 is 
believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from 
a specific burial site of an Native American individual. Officials of 
the California Department of Parks and Recreation also have determined 
that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship of shared 
group identity, that can be reasonably traced between this item and the 
Hopi Tribe of Arizona.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself 
to be culturally affiliated with this unassociated funerary object 
should contact Paulette Hennum, NAGPRA Coordinator, California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street, Room 902, 
Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 653-7976, before August 12, 2002. 
Repatriation of this unassociated

[[Page 45992]]

funerary object to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona may begin after that date 
if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: May 16, 2002.
Paula Molloy,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-17085 Filed 7-10-02; 8:45 am]
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