[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 201 (Friday, October 16, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65871-65872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22921]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030911; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Portland Art 
Museum, Portland, OR

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Portland Art Museum, 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 objects of 
cultural patrimony. 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 Portland Art Museum. 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 Portland Art Museum at the 
address in this notice by November 16, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art, Portland 
Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205, telephone (503) 
276-4294, email [email protected] and Donald Urquhart, 
Director of Collections and Special Exhibitions, Portland Art Museum, 
1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205, telephone (503) 276-4354, 
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 Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR, that meet the 
definition of 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 Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    Between 1921 and 1944, Axel Rasmussen, Superintendent of Schools 
first in Wrangell, AK, and later in Skagway, AK, collected Native 
American art and cultural items primarily from the Tlingit communities 
he served and from dealers in the region. After his death in 1945, his 
collection was transferred to art dealer Earl Stendahl in California. 
This collection was purchased by the Portland Art Museum in 1948.
    In 2002, the nine cultural items listed in this notice were claimed 
by the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes on behalf 
of the Naanya.aayi clan and the Wrangell Cooperative Association. The 
cultural items belonged to the Naanya.aayi clan and were kept in their 
clan house (known as the ``Shakes House'') under the custody of the 
hereditary clan leader, Chief Shakes, over multiple generations. The 
last Chief Shakes, Chief Shakes VII (aka Charlie Jones, died 1944), was 
installed in 1940. The cultural items have ongoing historical, 
traditional, and cultural importance that is central to the Tlingit 
clan structure. They are necessary for the renewal and continued 
practice of Tlingit religious ceremonies, rituals, and traditions of

[[Page 65872]]

their clans and clan leaders. Ownership of the cultural items is shown 
by clan crests displayed on eight of the cultural items: The mudshark 
crest on catalog numbers 48.3.419; 48.3.568; 48.3.569; 48.3.715, and 
the killer whale crest on catalog numbers 48.3.553; 48.422 a, b; 
48.3.528; 48.3.544. As they are collectively owned by the Naanya.aayi 
clan, these cultural items cannot be alienated by any one individual.
    The nine cultural items are described as follows:
    Items 1-3: X'[aacute]tgu S'aaxw/Mudshark Hat (catalog number 
48.3.419); X'[aacute]tgu Kood[aacute]s'/Mudshark shirt (catalog number 
48.3.715); Ditlein X'oow/Killer whale Stranded on a Rock, Robe (catalog 
number 48.3.553). According to Portland Art Museum records, in 1930, 
Rasmussen obtained the hat and shirt from a family member of Chief 
Shakes VI who died in 1915, and in 1934, he obtained the robe from 
another family member in Wrangell. According to oral traditional 
information presented by the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida 
Indian Tribes, these items were removed by Wrangell police after the 
death of Mrs. Kunk.
    Item 4: Keet S'aaxw/Killer whale Hat (catalog number 48.3.422 A, 
B). According to museum records, on April 23, 1934, Rasmussen obtained 
the hat from a family member of Chief Shakes VI.
    Item 5: Keet kuwool/Killer whale With a Hole (catalog number 
48.3.528). According to museum records, this wooden fin was first 
obtained by Andrew Wanamaker in 1933, and subsequently sold to 
Rasmussen.
    Item 6: Keet Naaxein/Killer whale Flotilla Chilkat Robe (catalog 
number 48.3.544). Museum records indicate that in 1936, Rasmussen 
obtained the robe from Esther Johnson Orcutt. Photographic evidence of 
clan ownership is provided by a 1913 photograph in the collections of 
the Anchorage Museum of History and Art entitled ``Coonk Shakes, Nephew 
of a Great Chief of Wrangell,'' in which the robe appears next to other 
clan property, and a 1900 photograph showing the clan house panel from 
which the robe design was adopted.
    Item 7: X'[aacute]tgu Kood[aacute]s'/Mudshark Shirt (catalog number 
48.3.568). Museum records indicate that in 1934, Rasmussen obtained the 
shirt from William James, of Wrangell. According to the Central Council 
of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes, Mr. James was the son of 
L'axdujeek, a ``tribal'' sister of Charlie Jones, aka Chief Shakes VII, 
and was not from the Naanya.aayi clan.
    Item 8: X'[aacute]tgu Kood[aacute]s'/Mudshark Shirt with dentalia 
shell (catalog number 48.3.569). Museum records indicate that in 1931, 
Rasmussen obtained the shirt from Charlie Jones, of Wrangell, AK. The 
1931 sale occurred before Jones was installed as Chief Shakes (in 
1940).
    Item 9: Geet Shakee.at/Storm Headdress (catalog number 48.3.435). 
According to the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes, 
this headdress was captured from the Tsimshian during a battle near the 
mouth of the Stikine River. Imbued with the words of ``spirit songs,'' 
it was worn by the ixt' (shaman) in ceremonial dance. Photographs from 
ca.1890 and 1913 show the headdress in the clan house together with 
other clan property. Museum records indicate that in 1931, Charlie 
Jones sold the headdress to Rasmussen.

Determinations Made by the Portland Art Museum:

    Officials of the Portland Art Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), the nine 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.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the objects 
of cultural patrimony and the Naanya.aayi clan, a constituent of 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 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native 
American Art, Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 
97205, telephone (503) 276-4294, email [email protected] and 
Donald Urquhart, Director of Collections and Special Exhibitions, 
Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205, telephone 
(503) 276-4354, email [email protected], by November 16, 2020. 
After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer 
of control of the objects of cultural patrimony to the Central Council 
of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes may proceed.
    The Portland Art Museum is responsible for notifying the Central 
Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes and the Wrangell 
Cooperative Association that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 16, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-22921 Filed 10-15-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P