[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 236 (Friday, December 9, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73265-73266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23871]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: New York State 
Museum, Albany, NY

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 New York State 
Museum, Albany, NY, 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 (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.
    At an unknown date, Harriet Maxwell Converse of New York City, NY, 
acquired six carved wooden masks known as False Face masks or 
Kakhonsas. According to museum records, Mrs. Converse was a frequent 
visitor to the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada, and the six 
Kakhonsas may have been collected there. In 1898, Mrs. Converse donated 
the Kakhonsas to the New York State Museum. Museum records identify the 
Kakhonsas as Canadian Mohawk. Mask number E-47 is black with long gray 
hair and round brass eyes, and is approximately 12 inches long and 6 1/
2 inches wide. Mask number E-4336 is greenish-brown and is 11 1/4 
inches long and 7 inches wide. Mask number E-36921 is black with long 
black hair and round tin eyes and is 9 1/2 inches long and 6 inches 
wide. Mask number E-37618 is reddish brown with tin eyes and is 11 
inches high and 6 inches wide. Mask number E-37024 is red with black 
features and tin eyes, and is 11 3/4 inches high and 7 inches wide. 
Mask number E-37029 is red and black with a crooked nose and is 11 3/4 
inches long and 6 3/4 inches wide.
    Mohawk traditional religious leaders identify the Kakhonsas as 
needed for the practice of traditional Native American religions by 
present-day adherents. Oral evidence presented during consultation by 
representatives of the St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York and 
Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs representatives, and museum 
documentation indicate that the Kakhonsas are culturally affiliated 
with the Mohawk.
    The Mohawk people traditionally occupied the middle Mohawk Valley 
and northeastern upstate New York. As early as the 17th century, some 
Mohawk began moving north into settlements on the St. Lawrence River, 
including St. Regis, NY. By the end of the American Revolution in 1784, 
most Mohawk had settled in Canada, including the Six Nations Reserve in 
Ontario.
    In the United States, the Mohawk people are represented by the 
Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs and the federally recognized St. Regis 
Band of Mohawk Indians of New York. The St. Regis Band of Mohawk 
Indians of New York is part of the Mohawk Nation. The six masks were 
probably collected at the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada. The 
Mohawks on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, represented by the Six 
Nations Confederacy Council, supports the Mohawk traditional religious 
leaders' claim for these cultural items. Furthermore, the St.

[[Page 73266]]

Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York have informed the New York 
State Museum that the tribe and the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs are 
acting in conjunction with the Mohawk community of Canada in this 
matter.
    Officials of the New York State Museum have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the six cultural items described 
above are specific ceremonial items needed by traditional Native 
American religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native 
American religions by their present-day adherents. Officials of the New 
York 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 sacred objects and the St. Regis Band of 
Mohawk Indians of New York and the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the sacred objects should contact Lisa 
Anderson, NAGPRA Coordinator, New York State Museum, 3122 Cultural 
Education Center, Albany, NY 12230, telephone (518) 486-2020 before 
January 9, 2006. Repatriation of the sacred objects to the St. Regis 
Band of Mohawk Indians of New York may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    New York State Museum is responsible for notifying the Six Nations 
Reserve, Ontario, Canada and St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New 
York that this notice has been published.

    Dated: October 11, 2005
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 05-23871 Filed 12-8-05; 8:45 am]
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