[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 235 (Friday, December 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70518-70519]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26783]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0033083; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: The Field Museum 
of Natural History, Chicago, IL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Field Museum of Natural History (Field Museum), 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

[[Page 70519]]

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 Field Museum. 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 Field Museum at the address 
in this notice by January 10, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Robbins, Director of 
Repatriation, The Field Museum, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 
60605, telephone (312) 665-7317, 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 Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, 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 item. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item

    Sometime between 1893 and 1899, one cultural item was removed from 
the site of Payupki in Navajo County, AZ. It is unknown who excavated 
the item, but it ended up in the collection of Heinrich Voth and was 
bought by the Field Museum as part of a large accession of materials. 
Voth's field notes indicate that the item, a ceramic vase, was removed 
from a grave located one mile south of the site of Payupki, on the Hopi 
Reservation.
    Voth's description of the provenience reasonably shows that the 
vase was removed from a grave. The item is affiliated with the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona based on academic literature, oral traditional 
information, and consultation with the Hopi Tribe of Arizona. 
(According to the notes of Charles Owen, a contemporary of Voth and an 
archeologist employed by the Field Museum, the site of Payupki was 
founded in 1680 by people from the ``Rio Grande district.'' Based on 
academic literature and oral traditional information, these people were 
the ancestors of the Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico. Although they lived 
at Payupki for a few generations, they subsequently returned to their 
place of origin.)

Determinations Made by The Field Museum of Natural History

    Officials of The Field Museum of Natural History 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 Hopi Tribe of Arizona.

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 Helen Robbins, Director of Repatriation, The 
Field Museum, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, telephone 
(312) 665-7317, email [email protected], by January 10, 2022. 
After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer 
of control of the unassociated funerary object to the Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona may proceed.
    The Field Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying 
the Hopi Tribe of Arizona that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 3, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-26783 Filed 12-9-21; 8:45 am]
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