[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55460-55461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20654]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: 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 cultural items in the possession of the Thomas Burke 
Memorial Washington State Museum, Seattle, WA, 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, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
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 this notice.
    The 12 cultural items are 1 arm band, 1 headdress ornament, 1 
rattle fragment, 2 potlatch rings, 2 fragments of a rattle, 1 oyster 
catcher rattle, 1 raven rattle, 3 fragments of raven rattles, and 1 
knife handle.

[[Page 55461]]

    The cultural items were collected by LT. George Emmons from 
southeastern Alaska at an unknown date and were given to the Thomas 
Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, Seattle, WA, in 1909. LT. 
Emmons described the items in his catalog notes: ``This collection of 
shaman's articles of practice were found in an old decayed grave house 
about Icy Straits and belonged to a shaman of the Hoonah kow (Huna) 
long since deceased.''
    Museum documentation provides the following descriptions by 
Lieutenant Emmons of the 12 items.
    Arm band (catalog number 938): ``Armlet of spruce twigs, bent 
around and intertwined, worn on the arm above the elbow when dressed 
for practice.''
    Headdress ornament (catalog number 939): ``Head-dress ornament of 
wood, shaped to represent the dorsal fin of the killer whale, the lower 
part is ornamentally carved as the head of the fish. It is painted in 
native mineral colors, red and graphite.''
    Rattle fragment (catalog number 940): ``Circle of spruce twig, a 
portion of a circular rattle carried in practice.''
    Potlatch rings (catalog number 941and 942): ``Two ornaments of 
finely woven spruce root consisting of a series of four and five 
cylinders, one above the other, surmounting the Shai-dai-kuke, the 
smaller and finer type of woven spruce root hat, but sometimes these 
ornaments surmounted a head dress. They are painted in native mineral 
colors.''
    Oyster catcher rattle (catalog number 943): ``Spirit rattle of 
wood, shaped to represent an oyster catcher. On the back is represented 
a spirit canoe the bow of which is carved as a sculpin. The tentacles 
of the devil-fish forming the sides and stern. In the canoe is a spirit 
man having a bears head and holding a Tlingit in his arms. Carried when 
practicing about the sick and bewitched.''
    Raven rattle (catalog number 944): ``General dance rattle of wood 
of the Tsimshian type, which is commonly used by the coast people upon 
ceremonial occasions. In form it represents a raven, on the back is a 
human figure reclining and in the rear near the handle a raven.''
    Rattle fragment (catalog number 945): ``The fore portion of a 
spirit rattle, representing the head of a puffin or sea parrot, with 
the figure of a man in the rear.''
    Raven rattle fragment (catalog number 946): ``Portion of the 
ornamental back of a rattle representing spirits.''
    Raven rattle fragment (catalog number 947): ``Portion of the 
ornamental back of a wooden rattle, showing a ravens head and a 
reclining human figure.''
    Rattle fragment (catalog number 948): ``Portion of a spirit rattle, 
representing a sculpin.''
    Knife handle (catalog number 949): ``Handle of wood of carving 
knife.''
    Consultation evidence provided by representatives of the Hoonah 
Indian Association indicates that, on the basis of provenience, the 12 
cultural items meet the NAGPRA definition of unassociated funerary 
objects, and that the Hoonah Indian Association has a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be traced historically and 
prehistorically between members of a present-day Indian tribe and an 
identifiable earlier group. Lieutenant Emmons specifically identified 
the provenience as ``an old decayed grave house'' and the tribal 
affiliation as ``Hoonah kow (Huna).''
    Officials of the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 12 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 a specific burial site of a 
Native American individual. Officials of the Thomas Burke Memorial 
Washington State Museum 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 unassociated funerary objects and 
the Hoonah Indian Association.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects 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 
October 14, 2004. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to 
the Hoonah Indian Association may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum is responsible 
for notifying the Hoonah Indian Association that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: August 2, 2004.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 04-20654 Filed 9-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S