[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 78386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25215]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036932; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: The Children's 
Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN

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 Children's Museum of Indianapolis 
intends to repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition 
of a sacred object and that has a cultural affiliation with the Indian 
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural 
item was removed from Drew County, Arkansas.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or 
after December 15, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Jennifer Noffze, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, 3000 
N Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46208, telephone (317) 334-3722, 
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 
Children's Museum of Indianapolis. 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 Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

Description

    In 1968, Earl Townsend, Jr., donated a sacred object to The 
Children's Museum of Indianapolis. It was formerly in the collection of 
Robert E. Bell of Marion, Ohio. The sacred object is a stone celt that 
was found in a grave in Drew County, Arkansas. This location is within 
the treaty land of the Quapaw Nation.

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: geographical, historical, 
and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis has determined 
that:
     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 
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 item and the Quapaw Nation.

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 December 15, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis 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 Children's Museum of 
Indianapolis 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: November 8, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-25215 Filed 11-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P