[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55422-55423]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21993]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item in the Possession 
of the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

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 
a cultural item in the possession of the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth 
College, Hanover, NH, 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 this 
cultural item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.

[[Page 55423]]

    The cultural item is a ball-headed, wooden ``war club'' (Catalog 
number 37.5.5370) with a carved diamond pattern and red and green paint 
on the handle.
    In 1937, this war club was donated to the Dartmouth College Museum, 
now the Hood Museum of Art, by Charles Bethune.
    The exact circumstances of the war club's collection are not known. 
Donor information states that this war club was collected from a grave 
in an unknown location. Donor information also identifies this war club 
as ``Seneca''. The Hood Museum of Art is not in possession or control 
of any human remains from this burial. Officials of the Seneca Nation 
of New York and the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York have 
indicated that this club is stylistically consistent with other known 
Seneca war clubs, and that the placement of funerary objects with an 
individual's remains was a common Seneca practice during the historic 
era. As a highly prized, personal object of power, a war club would 
have been a type of object traditionally placed with its deceased 
owner. Representatives of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma were 
consulted and agreed that the object should be repatriated to the 
Seneca Nation of New York and the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of 
New York.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Hood 
Museum of Art 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 Hood Museum of Art 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 
unassociated funerary object and the Seneca Nation of New York and the 
Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Cayuga Nation of New 
York, Oneida Nation of New York, Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, 
Onondaga Nation of New York, St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New 
York, Seneca Nation of New York, Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, 
Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York, and Tuscarora Nation of 
New York. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes 
itself to be culturally affiliated with this unassociated funerary 
object should contact Kellen G. Haak, Collections Manager/Registrar and 
Repatriation Coordinator, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 
Hanover, NH 03755, telephone (603) 646-3109, before September 30, 2002. 
Repatriation of this unassociated funerary object to the Seneca Nation 
of New York and the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York may 
begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: July 22, 2002.
Robert Stearns,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-21993 Filed 8-28-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S