[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6135-6136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02188]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-17467; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Denver Museum of 
Nature & Science, Denver, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Denver Museum of Nature & Science, in consultation with 
the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has 
determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or 
representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items 
should submit a written request to the Denver Museum of Nature & 
Science. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control 
of the cultural items 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 these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Denver Museum of Nature & 
Science at the address in this notice by March 6, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Chip Colwell, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 
Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO, telephone (303) 370-6378, 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 cultural items under the 
control of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, CO, 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 Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    Prior to 1951, 11 cultural items were removed from ``graves'' or 
``burial mounds'' in Humboldt County, CA. Ten of these cultural items 
were obtained, either through collection or excavation, by George and 
Ethel Smith. One necklace (AC.2256) is noted to have been excavated by 
Dr. Ben Hathaway of the State Museum in Sacramento and obtained by 
George Smith through an exchange. All of the cultural items were a part 
of the collection at the Smith Museum, a small museum off Star Route in 
Orange Cove, Fresno County, CA, run by George and Ethel Smith from the 
mid-1930s until 1950. In 1951, Mary W.A. Crane and Francis V. Crane 
purchased the cultural items from the Smith Museum. In 1968, the Cranes 
donated the cultural items to the Denver Museum of Natural History 
(later renamed to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science). In 1983, the 
cultural items were formally accessioned into the collections. The 11 
unassociated funerary objects are 4 shell bead necklaces (AC.1946, 
AC.1947, AC.2256, AC.2257), 3 shell objects (AC.1939, AC.2154A-B), 1 
stone pestle (AC.2093), 2 stone ear plugs (AC.2133A-B; note the 
location of AC.2133B is currently unknown), and 1 lot of shell beads 
(AC.2258).
    Museum records indicate that all of these cultural items were 
excavated from Native American graves or burial mounds located within 
Humboldt County, CA. Based on archival documents and expert opinion, it 
is reasonable to conclude that they were likely removed from a burial 
mound in Humboldt Bay known as HUM-67 and Tuluwat, located on Indian 
Island (formerly Gunther Island)--a place closely associated with Wiyot 
history. Stylistic attributes of material culture found at Tuluwat 
indicate that the site was occupied after A.D. 900. Multiple lines of 
evidence suggest the Wiyot culture has developed in-situ within 
Humboldt County over the last thousand years or more. Given this long 
term development the shared group identity is evident. The identifiable 
earlier group is the Wiyot and present-day tribes are those with Wiyot 
members: The Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria, California, Blue 
Lake Rancheria, California, and the Wiyot Tribe, California (previously

[[Page 6136]]

listed as the Table Bluff Reservation-Wiyot Tribe).

Determinations Made by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

    Officials of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science have determined 
that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 11 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.
     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 Bear River Band of Rohnerville 
Rancheria, California, Blue Lake Rancheria, California, and the Wiyot 
Tribe, California (previously listed as the Table Bluff Reservation-
Wiyot Tribe).

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 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Dr. Chip Colwell, Denver Museum of Nature & 
Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO, telephone (303) 370-6378, 
email [email protected], by March 6, 2015. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
unassociated funerary objects to Bear River Band of Rohnerville 
Rancheria, California, Blue Lake Rancheria, California, and the Wiyot 
Tribe, California (previously listed as the Table Bluff Reservation-
Wiyot Tribe) may proceed. The Wiyot Tribe, California (previously 
listed as the Table Bluff Reservation-Wiyot Tribe) has made a formal 
claim for the cultural items, which has been supported by Bear River 
Band of Rohnerville Rancheria, California and Blue Lake Rancheria, 
California.
    The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is responsible for notifying 
the Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria, California, Blue Lake 
Rancheria, California, and the Wiyot Tribe, California (previously 
listed as the Table Bluff Reservation-Wiyot Tribe) that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: January 9, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-02188 Filed 2-3-15; 8:45 am]
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