[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 101 (Friday, May 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30159-30160]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-11572]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Seton Hall 
University Museum, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ

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 Seton Hall 
University Museum, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, that meet 
the definition of ``sacred objects'' and ``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 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 Seton Hall University Museum professional staff consulted with 
representatives of the Onondaga Nation of New York and Tuscarora Nation 
of New York. Requests for consultation were sent to the Cayuga Nation 
of New York; Oneida Nation of New York; Oneida Tribe of Indians of 
Wisconsin; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, New York (formerly the St. Regis 
Band of Mohawk Indians of New York); Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York; and Haudenosaunee 
Standing Committee on Burial Rules and Regulations, non-federally 
recognized Indian organization representing Indian Nation members of 
the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, but they did not participate in 
consultations.
    The two cultural items are False Face masks or medicine faces. The 
first mask was obtained from the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario by Mr. 
Samuel Tarrant of Newark, NJ (catalog number 2349). It is not known 
when or how Mr. Tarrant obtained it. The Seton Hall University Museum 
purchased it from Mr. Tarrant sometime in 1962 or 1963.
    The second mask was donated to the Museum in 1992 by Dr. Herbert 
Kraft, then Director of the Museum (catalog number 92-3-6). It is not 
known how, when or where Mr. Kraft obtained the mask.
    Other than the attribution of one mask to the Six Nations Reserve, 
and both typologically to the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee), more specific 
cultural affiliation of the masks to any one particular nation of the 
Haudenosaunee is not possible by the museum. The Haudenosaunee 
Confederacy includes the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and 
Tuscarora Nations. According to Haudenosaunee culture and traditions, 
the Onondaga Nation is the keeper of the central hearth and fire where 
the Grand Council of the Confederacy meets. As the keeper of the 
central fire, the Onondaga Nation is

[[Page 30160]]

obligated to care for and return to the appropriate Nation, 
Haudenosaunee cultural objects that are not specifically affiliated 
with any one Haudenosaunee Nation. Written evidence of Haudenosaunee 
oral tradition presented during consultation identifies the False Face 
masks as being sacred objects needed by traditional Haudenosaunee 
religious leaders and objects of cultural patrimony that have ongoing 
historical, traditional, and cultural significance to the group and 
could not have been alienated by a single individual.
    Officials of the Seton Hall University Museum have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the two cultural objects described 
above are specific ceremonial objects needed by traditional Native 
American religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native 
American religions by their present-day adherents. Officials of the 
Seton Hall University Museum also have determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), the two cultural items described above have ongoing 
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native 
American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an 
individual. Lastly, officials of the Seton Hall University Museum 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[sol]objects of cultural patrimony and the 
Cayuga Nation of New York; Oneida Nation of New York; Oneida Tribe of 
Indians of Wisconsin; Onondaga Nation of New York; Seneca Nation of New 
York; Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, New 
York; Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York; and Tuscarora 
Nation of New York.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe or Nation that believes 
itself to be culturally affiliated with the sacred objects/objects of 
cultural patrimony should contact Dr. Thomas W. Kavanagh, Seton Hall 
University Museum, Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Ave., South 
Orange, NJ 07079, telephone (973) 375-5873, before June 23, 2008. 
Repatriation of the sacred objects[sol]objects of cultural patrimony to 
the Onondaga Nation of New York may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The Seton Hall University Museum is responsible for notifying the 
Cayuga Nation of New York; Oneida Nation of New York; Oneida Tribe of 
Indians of Wisconsin; Onondaga Nation of New York; Seneca Nation of New 
York; Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, New 
York; Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York; Tuscarora Nation of 
New York; and Haudenosaunee Standing Committee on Burial Rules and 
Regulations, a non-federally recognized Indian organization, that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: April 29, 2008.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-11572 Filed 5-22-08; 8:45 am]
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