[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46566-46567]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17581]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Field Museum of 
Natural History, Chicago, IL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.8 (f), of the 
intent to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Field 
Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, that meet the definition of 
``unassociated funerary objects'' under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.8 (f). The 
determinations in 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 in the notice.
    The six cultural items are one crescent moon rattle, one 
oystercatcher rattle, one mask, one charm, one handpiece, and one hat.
    The crescent moon rattle (catalog number 77921) is made of carved 
wood painted red, black, and blue. Carved relief on both sides of the 
rattle depict devilfish. The oystercatcher rattle

[[Page 46567]]

(catalog number 78670) is made of carved wood painted dark bluish-green 
and red and decorated with ermine skin. On the back of the rattle, a 
three-dimensional carving in high relief depicts a reclining man. 
Superimposed over each arm is the three-dimensional carved depiction of 
a fish. The mask (catalog number 78669) is made of carved wood painted 
greenish-blue and decorated with copper, nails, and bearskin. The mask 
depicts a half-otter, half-man spirit. The charm (catalog number 78679) 
is made of bone carved to depict a land otter. The handpiece (catalog 
number 78801) is made of wood carved to depict a human face and a 
spirit with the face of a human and the body of an otter. The hat 
(catalog number 84200) is made of a twined root and straw basket, with 
geometric and naturalistic decorative elements in black. Two figures on 
one side of the hat depict wolves.
    At an unknown date, Lieutenant George Thorton Emmons acquired the 
two rattles, and the mask, charm, and handpiece. In 1902, the Field 
Museum of Natural History purchased the cultural items from Lieutenant 
Emmons and accessioned the cultural items into its collection in the 
same year (accession number 807). Museum records indicate that 
Lieutenant Emmons acquired the cultural items in southeastern Alaska 
and that the cultural items originally were the property of an 
unidentified shaman or shamans of the ``Auk tribe.''. Museum records do 
not indicate how Lieutenant Emmons acquired the cultural items.
    Also at an unknown date, Lieutenant George Thorton Emmons acquired 
the hat. In 1903, the Field Museum of Natural History purchased the hat 
from Lieutenant Emmons and accessioned the cultural item into its 
collection in the same year (accession number 843). According to museum 
records, the hat was acquired in Juneau, AK, and was originally the 
property of an unidentified shaman of the ``Hoonah tribe.''. Museum 
records do not indicate how Lieutenant Emmons acquired the cultural 
item.
    The cultural affiliation of the cultural items is Tlingit as 
indicated by museum records and by consultation evidence presented by 
the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes. The Central 
Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes requested the return of 
the cultural items on behalf of two clans within the Aak'w tribe, the 
Wooshkeetaan and the L'eeneidi. Consultation evidence and the 
ethnographic literature indicate that the cultural items were removed 
from specific burial sites of Native American individuals, and that 
cultural items of this type were used only by the ixt' (shaman) of the 
Tlingit and usually were placed with the deceased shaman in above-
ground burials.
    Officials of the Field Museum of Natural History have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the cultural items described 
above are 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 are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from specific burial sites of Native 
American individuals. Officials of the Field Museum of Natural History 
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 six unassociated funerary objects and the Central Council 
of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes.
    Officials of the Field Museum of Natural History assert that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (13), the museum has right of possession of 
the six unassociated funerary objects. Officials of the Field Museum of 
Natural History recognize the significance of the six unassociated 
funerary objects to the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian 
Tribes and have reached an agreement with the Central Council of the 
Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes that allows the museum to return the six 
unassociated funerary objects to the Central Council of the Tlingit & 
Haida Indian Tribes voluntarily, pursuant to the compromise of claim 
provisions of the museum's repatriation policy.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact Jonathan Haas, MacArthur Curator of the Americas, Field Museum 
of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, 
telephone (312) 665-7829, before September 2, 2004. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Central Council of the Tlingit & 
Haida Indian Tribes may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Field Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying 
the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes, Douglas 
Indian Association, Goldbelt Incorporated, Hoonah Indian Association, 
Huna Totem Corporation, and Sealaska Corporation that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: May 7, 2004
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 04-17581 Filed 8-2-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-50-S