[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 212 (Monday, November 3, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62321-62322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27525]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: Thomas Burke 
Memorial Washington State Museum, Seattle, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate a cultural item in the

[[Page 62322]]

possession of the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, 
Seattle, WA, that meets the definition of sacred object 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 (d)(3). 
The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of 
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the 
cultural item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    The one cultural item (catalog number 2-11783) is a man's buckskin 
perforated shirt decorated with beadwork that was collected on the 
Spokane Indian Reservation by University of Washington faculty 
anthropologist Verne Ray in 1928. It was purchased by the Thomas Burke 
Memorial Washington State Museum in 1930 and accessioned as number 
2346. Dr. Ray's notes indicate that the shirt was made by an unnamed 
member of the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington and 
was worn by a member of the tribe residing on the Spokane Indian 
Reservation. Shirts of this type are part of a religious system 
involving the acquisition of guardian spirit powers. Consultation with 
religious leaders and representatives of the Spokane Tribe of the 
Spokane Reservation, Washington indicates that the shirt has ongoing 
religious importance and that the shirt is a ceremonial object 
essential for the continuation of traditional religious practices in 
the tribe.
    Officials of the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum have 
determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, that the cultural item is a 
specific 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 Thomas Burke 
Memorial Washington State Museum also have determined that there is a 
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced 
between the sacred object and the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane 
Reservation, Washington.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the sacred object should contact Dr. 
James D. Nason, Chairman, Repatriation Committee, Thomas Burke Memorial 
Washington State Museum, Box 353010, University of Washington, Seattle, 
WA 98195-3010, telephone (206) 543-9680, before December 3, 2003. 
Repatriation of the sacred object to the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane 
Reservation, Washington may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum is responsible 
for notifying the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 10, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-27525 Filed 10-31-03; 8:45 am]
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