[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 57470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18135]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036436; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Item: University of 
Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

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 University of Michigan intends to 
repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of a 
sacred objects and that has a cultural affiliation with the Indian 
Tribes in this notice. The cultural item was removed from an unknown 
county within the Rio Grande Valley, TX, or NM.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or 
after September 22, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Ben Secunda, NAGPRA Office Manager, University of 
Michigan, Office of Research, Suite G269A, Lane Hall, Ann Arbor, MI 
48109-1274, telephone (734) 615-8936, 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 
University of Michigan. 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 University 
of Michigan.

Description

    The one cultural item was removed from an unknown county within the 
Rio Grande Valley, TX, or NM, by Volney Jones, former Curator of 
Ethnology, University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology 
(UMMAA). Prior to 1931, Jones conducted fieldwork with the Isleta 
Pueblo in and around New Mexico and El Paso, TX. Jones completed his 
Master's Thesis for the University of New Mexico on Isleta Pueblo 
ethnobotany. The cultural item is one lot of botanicals.

Cultural Affiliation

    The cultural item in this notice is 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: anthropological, folklore, 
geographical, historical, oral tradition, other relevant information, 
and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the University of Michigan has determined that:
     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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural item and the Pueblo of 
Isleta, New Mexico, and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 
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 item in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after September 22, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of Michigan must determine 
the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for 
joint repatriation of the cultural item are considered a single request 
and not competing requests. The University of Michigan is responsible 
for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes 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: August 16, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-18135 Filed 8-22-23; 8:45 am]
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