[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 13731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04977]



[[Page 13731]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0031570; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Kentucky Museum, 
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University, 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 an unassociated funerary object. 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 Kentucky Museum, 
Western Kentucky University. 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 Kentucky Museum, Western 
Kentucky University at the address in this notice by April 9, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Sandy Staebell, Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky 
University, 1906 College Heights Blvd., #11092, Bowling Green, KY 
42101, telephone (270) 745-6260, 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 Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University, Bowling 
Green, KY, that meets the definition of an unassociated funerary object 
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

    At an unknown date, one cultural item was removed from a burial 
mound in Stewart County, TN, by the Bureau of American Ethnology. On 
June 14, 1927, the item was transferred to the U.S. National Museum. On 
May 2, 1939, the item was transferred to Western Kentucky State 
Teachers College. This unassociated funerary object is a hoe (Catalog 
#336976).
    Although provenance information for this unassociated funerary 
object is extremely limited, the available documentary evidence assigns 
its excavation to a mound in Stewart County, TN. A relationship of 
shared group identity can reasonably be traced between the Muskogean 
linguistic cultures and this object based on evidence linking the 
Chickasaw people to the southeastern United States, including 
Tennessee, as documented in the Treaty of 1816.

Determinations Made by the Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University

    Officials of The Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the one cultural item 
described above is 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 is 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 object and The Chickasaw Nation.

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 Sandy Staebell, Kentucky Museum, Western 
Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd., #11092, Bowling Green, 
KY 42101, telephone (270) 745-6260, email [email protected], by 
April 9, 2021. After that date, if no additional claimants have come 
forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary object to The 
Chickasaw Nation may proceed.
    The Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University is responsible for 
notifying The Chickasaw Nation that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 25, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-04977 Filed 3-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P