[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 7, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 12826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-04405]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22872; 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 sacred 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, Denver, CO. 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, Denver, CO at the address in this notice by April 6, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Chip Colwell, Senior Curator of Anthropology and NAGPRA 
Officer, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, 
Denver, CO 80205, 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, CO, 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 Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item

    Around 1925, one cultural item was removed from an unknown wooded 
location. It had been given or sold to a local collector before Karen 
Petersen obtained it in 1975. Petersen sold it to Mary and Francis 
Crane on February 19, 1976, and the Cranes donated it to the Denver 
Museum of Nature & Science on May 27, 1983. In the 1950s, Karen 
Petersen and her husband Sydney Petersen spent their summers visiting 
Anishinaabe communities, camping out and buying crafts from tribal 
members. When she was able to sell items, she sold them through 
churches in St. Paul, MN. She also collected Anishinaabe objects for 
the Science Museum of Minnesota as a staff member from 1958 to 1964. 
The one cultural item (AC.11537) is a water drum. It had been left in 
the woods for religious reasons. The drum has broken into six pieces 
but is still ceremonially significant today because of the etchings on 
the wood that contain a song or story.
    Museum accession, catalogue, and documentary records, as well as 
consultation with a representative of the Grand Portage Band of the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota, indicate that the one cultural 
item is Ojibwe and is from the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in 
northern Minnesota.

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)(C), the one 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(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the sacred 
object and the Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, 
Minnesota.

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 Chip Colwell, Senior Curator of Anthropology 
and NAGPRA Officer, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado 
Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205, telephone (303) 370-6378, email 
[email protected], by April 6, 2017. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
sacred object to the Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribe, Minnesota may proceed.
    The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is responsible for notifying 
the Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 6, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-04405 Filed 3-6-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P