[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9049-9051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3520]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-65]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of 
Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

[[Page 9050]]


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 University of 
Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, 
that meet the definitions of sacred objects and/or 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.
    In this notice there are eight Tlingit objects that were purchased 
by Louis Shotridge, a Tlingit curator employed by the University of 
Pennsylvania Museum to conduct research and make museum collections. 
Tlingit objects affiliated with the Tlingit Kaagwaantaan Clan of Sitka, 
AK, are two helmets (catalog numbers NA8507 and 29-1-1) and three hats 
(catalog numbers NA6864, NA11741, and NA11742). The remaining three 
objects affiliated with the Tlingit L'ooknax.[aacute]di Clan of Sitka, 
AK, are one helmet (catalog number NA8502) and two hats (catalog 
numbers NA10512 and NA10511).
    The following five cultural objects are affiliated with the Tlingit 
Kaagwaantaan Clan of Sitka, AK, as indicated through museum records, 
and through evidence presented by the Central Council of Tlingit and 
Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, a Federally-recognized Indian tribe, 
acting on behalf of the Kaagwaantaan Clan of Sitka, AK.
    The first cultural item is a helmet called Wolf (NA8507). It is 
carved of wood and represents a wolf, and is painted with green, red, 
black, and white pigment. Natural wolf fur, ears and teeth make the 
helmet more realistic. Red cloth is added to the mouth to represent a 
tongue, and a white ermine skin is attached to the back of the helmet. 
The helmet measures approximately 38.5 cm long, 16.5 cm wide, and 16 cm 
high. In 1918, Louis Shotridge purchased the Wolf Helmet (NA8507) as 
part of a collection of five objects referred to as the ``Eagle's Nest 
House Collection,'' for $40.00 in Sitka, AK, for the collections of the 
University of Pennsylvania Museum.
    The second cultural item is a hat called Ganook (NA6864). It is 
made of maple wood in the shape of a bird's face and beak, and painted 
with blue, red, and black pigment. Opercula shell is inlaid for teeth, 
and the helmet is also decorated with red and white hair. Four potlatch 
rings woven of split spruce roots are mounted on the top. The hat 
measures approximately 28 cm long, 27 cm wide, and 37 cm high. The old 
hat represents Ganook, a petrel, also known as the most ancient being 
in Tlingit mythology. In 1925, Louis Shotridge purchased the Ganook Hat 
(NA6864) for $450.00 from a Tlingit individual, Augustus Bean (Ke.t-
xut'.tc), a housemaster of one of the three Wolf Houses of the 
Kaagwaantaan Clan of Sitka, AK, for the collections of the University 
of Pennsylvania Museum.
    The third cultural item is a hat called Noble Killer (NA11741). It 
represents a whale and is carved from one piece of spruce wood, 
ornamented with abalone shell. The hat is intricately carved and 
painted with greenish-blue, red, and black pigment. A wooden piece 
projecting from the back represents the dorsal fin of the animal. Human 
hair is used as ornamentation on the fin. The hat measures 
approximately 36 cm long, 34 cm wide, and 27.5 cm high. Museum 
documentation indicates the Noble Killer Hat (NA11741) represents the 
maritime power of the Kaagwaantaan clan.
    The fourth cultural item is a hat called Eagle (NA11742). It is 
carved, in one piece, from the root of the red cedar, and is painted 
with greenish-blue, red, black, and white pigment. The hat is decorated 
with coarse, grayish-brown human hair. Designs carved on the sides, 
some of which are inlaid with abalone shell, represent the wings. 
Designs on the front part of the hat represent the eagle's legs and 
talons. The hat measures approximately 33 cm long, 25.5 cm wide, and 26 
cm high. The Eagle Hat represents the Eagle moiety of the Tlingit 
nation.
    In 1926, Louis Shotridge purchased the Noble Killer (or Noble 
Killerwhale) Hat (NA11741) and the Eagle Hat (NA11742) from a Tlingit 
individual, Augustus Bean (Ke.t-xut'.tc), a housemaster for one of the 
three Wolf Houses of the Kaagwaantaan Clan of Sitka, AK. These two 
hats, together with a third hat, were acquired by Louis Shotridge for 
$800.00.
    The fifth cultural item is a helmet called Shark (29-1-1). It is 
made of walrus hide, and has visible interior supports made of wood. 
The helmet is carved and painted with greenish-blue, red, and black 
pigment, and includes abalone shell eyes and mouth, and opercula shell 
teeth. The nose of the shark is covered by an arched frame made of 
carved and painted walrus hide, decorated with hair. The helmet 
measures approximately 38 cm long, 40.5 cm wide, and 48.5 cm high. 
According to museum documentation, it is an old object that is 
associated with the founding of the Kaagwaantaan clan. In 1929, Louis 
Shotridge purchased the Shark Helmet (29-1-1) for $350.00 from a 
Tlingit individual of the Kaagwaantaan clan for the collections of the 
University of Pennsylvania Museum.
    Based on consultation, museum documentation, anthropological 
literature, and expert opinion, one cultural item is considered to be a 
sacred object (Wolf Helmet, NA8507), one is considered to be an object 
of cultural patrimony (Shark Helmet, 29-1-1), and three are considered 
to be both sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony (Ganook 
Hat, NA6864; Noble Killer Hat, NA11741; Eagle Hat, NA11742).
    The remaining three cultural objects are affiliated with the 
Tlingit L'ooknax.[aacute]di Clan of Sitka, AK, as indicated through 
museum records, and through evidence presented by the Central Council 
of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, a Federally-recognized 
Indian tribe, acting on behalf of the Tlingit L'ooknax.[aacute]di Clan 
of Sitka, AK.
    The first cultural item affiliated with the L'ooknax.[aacute]di 
Clan of Sitka, AK, is a helmet called Barbecuing Raven (NA8502). It is 
carved out of wood in the shape of a large raven with a wide flat tail, 
talons, and a second face underneath the raven's beak at the front. The 
wings are made of painted hide. The helmet is painted with blue-green, 
red, and black pigment and it is decorated with copper, and a few 
remaining remnants of puffin beaks. Two potlatch rings woven of split 
spruce roots are mounted on the top, decorated with a single ermine 
skin. The helmet measures approximately 49 cm long, 38 cm wide, and 30 
cm high. In 1918, Louis Shotridge purchased the Barbecuing Raven Helmet 
(NA8502) as part of a collection of five objects, referred to as the 
``Sealion House Collection,'' for $360.00, in Sitka, AK, for the 
collections of the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
    The second cultural item is a hat called Whale (catalog number 
NA10512). It is a basketry hat, woven of spruce tree roots, which has 
been painted white. A design representing a whale with an open mouth is 
painted in black pigment. A carved wooden element secured to the top of 
the hat represents the whale's dorsal fin, and includes a face painted 
with blue-green, red, black and white pigment, abalone

[[Page 9051]]

shell teeth and eyes, and human hair. The helmet measures approximately 
39 cm long, 35 cm wide, and 36 cm high.
    The third cultural item is a hat called Raven of the Roof 
(NA10511). It is carved and painted with blue-green, red, black and 
white pigment, and decorated with copper eyebrows, ears, and nose and 
human hair. Seven potlatch rings woven of split spruce roots are 
mounted on the top of the hat, with an ermine skin for decoration. The 
hat measures approximately 34 cm long, 31 cm wide, and 35 cm high.
    In 1925, Louis Shotridge purchased the Whale Hat (NA10512) and the 
Raven of the Roof Hat (NA10511) as part of a collection of six objects, 
referred to as the ``Sitka Whale House Collection,'' for $640.00, in 
Sitka, AK, for the collections of the University of Pennsylvania 
Museum.
    Based on consultation, museum documentation, anthropological 
literature, and expert opinion, two cultural items are considered to be 
objects of cultural patrimony (Barbecuing Raven Helmet, NA8502; Whale 
Hat, NA10512), and one is considered to be both a sacred object and 
object of cultural patrimony (Raven of the Roof Hat, NA10511). 
Therefore, of the eight Tlingit objects, one is a sacred object, three 
are objects of cultural patrimony, and four are both sacred objects and 
objects of cultural patrimony.
    Officials of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology 
and Anthropology have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(C), 
that five cultural items 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 University of Pennsylvania Museum of 
Archaeology and Anthropology have also determined, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), that seven 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 University of Pennsylvania 
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology have determined, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001(2), that there is a relationship of shared group identity 
that can be reasonably traced between the sacred object, objects of 
cultural patrimony, and sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony 
and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, a 
Federally-recognized Indian tribe, and the Tlingit Kaagwaantaan Clan of 
Sitka, AK, and the Tlingit L'ooknax.[aacute]di Clan of Sitka, AK.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the sacred object, objects of cultural 
patrimony, and/or sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony should 
contact Dr. Richard Hodges, Director, University of Pennsylvania Museum 
of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South St., Philadelphia, PA 
19104-6324, telephone (215) 898-4050, before March 18, 2011. 
Repatriation of the cultural items to the Central Council of Tlingit 
and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, a Federally-recognized Indian tribe, 
on behalf of the Tlingit Kaagwaantaan Clan of Sitka, AK, and 
L'ooknax.[aacute]di Clan of Sitka, AK, may proceed after that date if 
no additional claimants come forward.
    The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and 
Anthropology is responsible for notifying the Central Council of 
Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, a Federally-recognized 
Indian tribe, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 11, 2011.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-3520 Filed 2-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P