[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76849-76850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24529]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036871; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of 
Denver Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO

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 Denver Museum of 
Anthropology intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects and one cultural item that 
meets the definition of a sacred object and that have a cultural 
affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice. The cultural items were removed from Cheyenne County, NE, 
Phillips County, KS, an unknown county in KS, and an unknown county and 
state.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after December 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Anne Amati, University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, 
2000 E Asbury Ave, Sturm Hall 146, Denver, CO 80210, telephone (303) 
871-2687, 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 Denver Museum of Anthropology. 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 Denver Museum of Anthropology.

Description

    One cultural item was removed from an unknown location. It was 
donated to the museum by an unknown person in March of 1972. The one 
sacred object is a black elbow pipe (DU ID# 5743).
    One cultural item was removed from the Republican River area, KS. 
At an unknown date, the item came into the possession of George E. 
Cuneo and was subsequently transferred to Fallis F. Rees. In 1967, Mr. 
Rees donated the item to the University of Denver Museum of 
Anthropology. The one unassociated funerary object is a stone pipe (DU 
ID#4120).
    Forty-seven cultural items were removed from Phillips County, KS. 
Museum records indicate that the cultural items were collected from a 
site identified as a possible cemetery in 1965 by Mary Webster. The 47 
unassociated funerary objects are one lot of charcoal pieces (DU ID# 
KS-Temp 1), 15 shells (DU ID# KS-Temp 2), one lot of fragments of non-
human bones (DU ID# KS-Temp 3), six ceramic sherds (DU ID# KS-Temp 4), 
20 stone flakes (DU ID# KS-Temp 5), one projectile point fragment (DU 
ID# KS-Temp 6), one projectile point (DU ID# KS-Temp 7), one stone 
knife (DU ID# KS-Temp 8), and one unmodified piece of wood (DU ID# KS-
Temp 9).
    Fifty-eight cultural items were removed from Cheyenne County, NE. 
Museum records indicate the items were removed from a rock shelter site 
by R.E. Cape of Dalton, NE, and that human remains were present. At an 
unknown date, the cultural items were transferred to E.B. Renaud, 
founder of the museum. The 58 unassociated funerary objects are 11 
ceramic sherds (DU ID# NE I:12:4.1), 38 stone flakes (DU ID# NE 
I:12:4.2), seven pieces of ground stone (DU ID# NE I:12:4.3), one stone 
needle fragment (DU ID# NE I:12:4.4), and one polishing stone (DU ID# 
NE I:12:4.5).

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 information and 
oral tradition.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the University of Denver Museum of Anthropology has 
determined that:
     The 106 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.
     The one cultural item described above is a specific 
ceremonial object needed by traditional Native American religious 
leaders for the practice of

[[Page 76850]]

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 items and the Cheyenne and 
Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma.

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 December 7, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of Denver Museum of 
Anthropology 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 University 
of Denver Museum of Anthropology is responsible for sending a copy of 
this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations 
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, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: October 27, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-24529 Filed 11-6-23; 8:45 am]
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