[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 61 (Monday, March 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18063-18064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07147]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-15181; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Oakland Museum of 
California

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Oakland Museum of California, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has 
determined that the cultural item listed in this notice meets the 
definition of a sacred object and an object of cultural patrimony. 
Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
this cultural item should submit a written request to the Oakland 
Museum of California. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer 
of control of the cultural item to the lineal descendants, Indian 
tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may 
proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim this cultural item should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Oakland

[[Page 18064]]

Museum of California at the address in this notice by April 30, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Lori Fogarty, Director, Oakland Museum of California, 1000 
Oak Street, Oakland, CA 94607, (510) 318-8400, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 a cultural item under the 
control of the Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA that meets the 
definition of a sacred object and an object 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 Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item(s)

    Between 1897 and 1928, one cultural item was removed from Wrangell, 
AK, by Fred W. Carlyon, a local shop owner. Carlyon and his sister, 
Anna Vaughn, collected the Shtax' Heen Kwaan Kaachadi Frog Hat during 
their time in Wrangell in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 
Later, the hat passed from the collectors to Dorothy K. Haberman, who 
was Miss Vaughn's daughter. Mrs. Haberman donated the hat to the 
Oakland Museum of California in 1959. The sacred object/object of 
cultural patrimony is a clan crest hat in the shape of a frog carved 
from wood and with copper overlay on formline. The eyes are overlaid 
with abalone and the hat is topped with five woven spruce root rings.
    Oral traditions say that the Tlingit Indians have inhabited 
Southeast Alaska since time immemorial. They share an identity as a 
tribe and trace that identity to multiple ancestral groups. The 
Khaach.[aacute]di clan of Xh[iacute]xhch'i H[iacute]t (Frog House) of 
the Shtax H[eacute]en Khwaan (``Wrangell People'') have origin stories 
tracing the group from the Naas H[eacute]eni (Naas River) to the Shtax 
H[eacute]en (Stikine River). An ancestress of the clan obtained rights 
to the Frog crest on the Shtaxh H[eacute]en. The Frog Hat is considered 
a sacred object/object of cultural patrimony because of its status as 
at.[oacute]ow--a clan owned object brought out in ceremonies by a clan 
appointed caretaker and an object that could not be alienated without 
the consent of the entire clan. The Frog Hat, as clan property, is 
needed for the present-day clan members to participate in ongoing 
ceremonies.

Determinations Made by the Oakland Museum of California

    Officials of the Oakland Museum of California have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(C), the cultural item 
described above is a specific ceremonial object needed by traditional 
Native American religious leaders for the practice of traditional 
Native American religions by their present-day adherents.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), the cultural item 
described above has ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural 
importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, 
rather than property owned by an individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the sacred 
object/object of cultural patrimony and the Central Council of the 
Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
this cultural item should submit a written request with information in 
support of the claim to Lori Fogarty, Director, Oakland Museum of 
California, 1000 Oak Street, Oakland, CA 94607, (510) 318-8400, email 
[email protected], by April 30, 2014. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
sacred object/object of cultural patrimony to the Central Council of 
the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes may proceed.
    The Oakland Museum of California is responsible for notifying the 
Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes that this notice 
has been published.

    Dated: March 4, 2014.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-07147 Filed 3-28-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P