[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 133 (Thursday, July 11, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45995-45996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17414]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item in the Possession 
of the Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit College, Beloit, WI

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 
Logan Museum of Anthropology that meets the definition 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 item is a bear headdress (Xoots Shakee.at). It is 
comprised of an ermine fur crown decorated around the edge with sea-
lion whiskers and red and yellow shafted flicker feathers. The carved 
wooden frontlet represents a bear whose breast and abdomen are 
decorated with the head of an eagle and the head and front legs of a 
frog. The carving is painted red, black, blue, and green and is inlaid 
with abalone shell along the top and along each side of the bear crest. 
The interior frame of the headdress is constructed of wood and 
whalebone and lined with cotton cloth.

[[Page 45996]]

    Accession and catalogue records of the Logan Museum of Anthropology 
and the Portland Art Museum indicate that the bear headdress was 
collected by Axel Rasmussen in Alaska between 1926 and 1936. Mr. 
Rasmussen went to Alaska in the late 1920s as superintendent of schools 
at Wrangell. In 1937, he left Wrangell for a similar position in 
Skagway, where he stayed until his death in 1945. The headdress was 
probably collected while he was in Wrangell, as the date marked on the 
collector's catalogue card predates his tenure in Skagway. In 1948, his 
art collection was donated to the Portland Art Museum, which sold the 
headdress to the St. Paul Gallery in St. Paul, MN, in 1959. Rev. Glen 
Ridenour purchased the headdress from the St. Paul Gallery at an 
unknown date and sold it to the Logan Museum of Anthropology in 1964.
    Consultations with and documentation provided by representatives of 
the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes acting on behalf 
of the Teikweidi Clan of the Tlingit confirm the Tlingit identity of 
this cultural item, and the Teikweidi Clan of the Tlingit as the 
rightful custodians of this item. Central Council of Tlingit and Haida 
Indian Tribes representatives have provided evidence that the headdress 
is needed for religious ceremonies by the clan, and that the headdress 
has ongoing historical, traditional, and cultural importance to the 
Tlingit people, and to the Teikweidi Clan in particular, and that under 
the Tlingit system of communal property ownership, this cultural item 
could not have been alienated, appropriated, or conveyed by any 
individual.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Logan 
Museum of Anthropology have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(3), this cultural item is a ceremonial object needed by traditional 
Native American religious leaders for the practice of traditional 
Native American religions by their present-day adherents. Officials of 
the Logan Museum of Anthropology also have determined that, pursuant to 
43 CFR 10.2 (d)(4), this cultural item has ongoing historical, 
traditional, and cultural importance to the clan itself and is of such 
central importance that it could not have been alienated, appropriated, 
or conveyed by any individual. Lastly, officials of the Logan Museum of 
Anthropology 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 sacred object/object of cultural patrimony and the 
Teikweidi Clan of the Tlingit tribe, whose interests are represented 
here by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Central Council of 
Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes. Representatives of any other Indian 
tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with this object 
should contact William Green, Director, Logan Museum of Anthropology, 
Beloit College, 700 College St., Beloit, WI 53511, telephone (608) 363-
2119 before August 12, 2002. Repatriation of this sacred object/object 
of cultural patrimony to the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida 
Indian Tribes may begin after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.

    Dated: June 19, 2002
Robert Stearns,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-17414 Filed 7-10-02; 8:45 am]
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