[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 24, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 78508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32174]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given under the Native American Graves Protection 
and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, Sec. 7, of the intent to 
repatriate cultural items in the possession of the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, CA, that meet the 
definition of ``sacred objects'' under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003, Sec. 
5(d)(3). 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.
    Accession documents and information obtained in conversation with 
former California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) employees 
indicate that the sacred objects were taken from the ceremonial dance 
house at the Sulfur Bank Rancheria without permission from the Sulfur 
Bank community. About 1958, these cultural items were donated 
anonymously to the State of California Department of Natural Resources 
Division of Beaches and Parks, now Department of Parks and Recreation.
    The 59 cultural items consist of regalia used in performing 
ceremonies related to the Maru Cult or Big Head Dance of the Pomo 
Indians. The claimed objects include 11 men's shirts, 3 women's skirts, 
2 women's blouses, 7 women's dresses, 13 sashes, 17 patches, 2 bands, 3 
flashers, and 1 cloth worn by ceremonial leaders and singers. Use of 
this type of clothing dates to the early 1870s when religious movements 
with various origins were active in Pomoan and other native communities 
throughout Northern California. A central belief of the religion is the 
power of spiritually significant dreaming. Certain gifted individuals, 
known as Maru or ``Dreamers'' by the Pomo, are the recipients of 
special dreams. These Maru are gifted with the ability to dream the 
rules of the ``Bid Head'' Ceremony, the way each should be performed, 
and what the regalia is made from, as well as how the regalia is put 
together.
    The specific patterns appliqu[eacute]d to the clothing and other 
accessories associated with ceremonial dances, such as the Big Head 
Dance and the Ball Dance, were patterns that the Maru had seen in his 
or her dream. The materials requested for repatriation appear to 
include items from two dreamers, Sarah Brigham and Elvy Patch, both of 
whom died in 1949 or before. Irvin Miranda, grandson of Sarah Brigham, 
recently identified some items in the collection as having his 
grandmother's design pattern (red heart and cross with a blue border of 
triangles facing inward). This dance regalia, ornamented with dream 
patterns, was used only for ceremonial occasions and was generally kept 
in the ceremonial dance house when not in use. The fact that they are 
decorated with patterns derived from a Maru's dream endows them with 
spiritual character.
    In consultation with representatives of the Elem Indian Colony of 
Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria, California, including 
traditional religious leaders and current Maru, Robert Geary, it has 
been determined that these objects are integral to present-day 
religious traditions associated with the Maru beliefs.
    Officials of the California Department of Parks and Recreation have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec. 2 (3)(C), 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 California Department of Parks and Recreation also have determined 
that pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec. 2(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between these 
sacred objects and the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the 
Sulphur Bank Rancheria, California.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with these sacred objects should contact 
Paulette Hennum, NAGPRA Coordinator, Cultural Resources Division, 
California State Parks, P.O. Box 942896, Sacramento, CA 94296-0001, 
telephone (916) 653-7976 before January 23, 2003. Repatriation of these 
sacred objects to the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur 
Bank Rancheria, California may begin after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The California Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible 
for notifying the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur 
Bank Rancheria, California that this notice has been published.

    Dated: October 30, 2002.
Robert Stearns,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-32174 Filed 12-23-02; 8:45 am]
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