[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 230 (Monday, December 1, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 67208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29774]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Kansas State 
Historical Society, Topeka, KS

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) regulations, 43 CFR10.8 (f), 
of the intent to repatriate five cultural items in the possession of 
the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, KS, that meet the 
definition of ``objects of cultural patrimony'' 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 items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    The five cultural items are a medicine outfit, a ceremonial sash, a 
set of feathers in a feather case, a set of wampum beads, and a 
medicine love charm. All of these items were purchased by the Kansas 
State Historical Society in 1956 from the Logan Museum of Anthropology, 
Beloit College, Beloit, WI.
    The medicine outfit consists of a small metal can surrounded by a 
thong from which hang four large claws separated by brass beads. The 
upper portion of the can is covered with a piece of dark blue cotton 
cloth. The letter of transfer from the Logan Museum of Anthropology 
identified the item as a ``Sac and Fox medicine outfit.''
    The ceremonial sash is a woven band 1.5 m long and 18 cm wide made 
of multicolored wool yarn. It has a lightning design that was 
identified by Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, Sac 
& Fox Nation of Oklahoma, and Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in 
Iowa representatives as associated with upper-level or leading clans of 
the Sac and Fox tribes. The letter of transfer from the Logan Museum of 
Anthropology identified the item as a ``Sac and Fox sash.''
    The feathers and feather case consist of a set of turkey feathers 
contained within two hollow sections of wood with rounded ends that 
slide together to form a case 45 cm long and 13 cm wide. The letter of 
transfer from the Logan Museum of Anthropology identified the item as a 
``Sac and Fox feather case.''
    The wampum beads consist of a set of black and white tubular glass 
beads strung on three looped strands of cotton cord approximately 1.0 m 
long tied with a thong at one end. The letter of transfer from the 
Logan Museum of Anthropology identified the item as ``Sac and Fox 
wompum [sic].''
    The medicine love charm consists of a strand of glass beads of 
mixed colors and sizes strung on a thong with a small brass thimble at 
one end carrying four orange- and tan-colored satin ribbons, 
accompanied by a small cotton bag bearing a red and black-pattern 
design tied with a leather thong. The letter of transfer from the Logan 
Museum of Anthropology identifies the item as a ``Sac and Fox medicine 
love charm.''
    On several occasions beginning in 1997, representatives of the Sac 
& Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, the Sac & Fox Nation 
of Oklahoma, and the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa visited 
the Kansas State Historical Society to examine the society's 
collections as part of the NAGPRA consultation process. During the 
visits, the representatives identified the cultural items described 
above as objects of cultural patrimony having ongoing historical, 
traditional, and cultural importance to the Sac and Fox tribes as a 
whole, and stated that they considered the items to be of such central 
importance that the items could not have been legitimately alienated, 
appropriated, or conveyed by any individual. In a letter to the Kansas 
State Historical Society dated October 17, 2002, the three tribes 
provided formal indication of their wish to jointly claim those items 
as objects of cultural patrimony, and for those items to be repatriated 
to the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
    Officials of the Kansas State Historical Society have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), the cultural items have 
ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the 
Native American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by 
an individual. Officials of the Kansas State Historical Society also 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a 
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced 
between the cultural items and the Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in 
Kansas and Nebraska, the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma, and the Sac & 
Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the objects of cultural patrimony should 
contact Randall M. Thies, Kansas State Historical Society, 6425 SW 
Sixth Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099, telephone (785) 272-8681, 
extension 267, before December 31, 2003. Repatriation of the objects of 
cultural patrimony to the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa 
may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Kansas State Historical Society is responsible for notifying 
the Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, the Sac & Fox 
Nation of Oklahoma, and the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 17, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-29774 Filed 11-28-03; 8:45 am]
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