[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 35915]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11693]



[[Page 35915]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035952; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Museum of Us, San 
Diego, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Museum of Us intends to repatriate 
certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated 
funerary objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian 
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural 
items were removed from Tennessee and Mississippi.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after July 3, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Carmen Mosley, NAGPRA Repatriation Manager, Museum of Us, 
1350 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101, telephone (619) 239-
2001 Ext. 42, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
Museum of Us. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice. Additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the summary or related records held by the Museum of 
Us.

Description

    At an unknown date, one cultural item was removed from an unknown 
county in the State of Mississippi. In 1939, George L. Hyatt donated 
the item to the San Diego Museum (now Museum of Us). The unassociated 
funerary object is an axe head.
    At an unknown date, three cultural items were removed from Hickman 
County, TN. The items were found in a stone-lined grave situated at the 
junction of the Piney and Duck Rivers. In 1957, George A. Leupold 
donated the items to the San Diego Museum of Man (now Museum of Us). 
The three unassociated funerary objects are one adze blade, one double-
headed axe head, and one biconcave discoidal.
    At an unknown date, two cultural items were removed from an unknown 
county in the State of Tennessee. Subsequently, Geoffrey Smith, a 
retired physician and prolific collector of archeological and historic 
items, acquired these items from the E. Lorenz Borenstein Gallery. In 
2010, Smith donated the items to the Museum of Man (now Museum of Us), 
along with a large Latin American archeological collection. The two 
unassociated funerary objects are one conch shell mask, and one conch 
shell dipper.

Cultural Affiliation

    The cultural items in this notice are connected to one or more 
identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a 
relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier 
groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were 
used to reasonably trace the relationship: geographical and historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Museum of Us has determined that:
     The six 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and The Chickasaw 
Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any lineal 
descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice who shows, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, that the requestor is a lineal descendant or a culturally 
affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
    Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to a requestor 
may occur on or after July 3, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Museum of Us must determine the most 
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint 
repatriation of the cultural items are considered a single request and 
not competing requests. The Museum of Us is responsible for sending a 
copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: May 24, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-11693 Filed 5-31-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P