[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87796-87797]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27790]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037080; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: The University of 
Kansas, Lawrence, KS

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 Kansas 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 Sonora, Mexico.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or 
after January 18, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas Torma, NAGPRA Program Manager, The University of 
Kansas, Office of Audit, Risk & Compliance, 1450 Jayhawk Boulevard, 351 
Strong Hall, Lawrence, KS 66045, telephone (406) 850-2220, 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 Kansas. 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 Kansas.

Description

    The one cultural item was removed from Sonora, Mexico, at an 
unknown time. The item is a Pascola Mask, used by the Yaqui people 
during Holy Week celebrations. The mask was collected by J. Cotter 
Hirschberg, M.D. at an unknown date. In December 1967, Dr. Hirschberg 
donated the mask to the Museum and Archives Division of the Menninger 
Foundation, a psychiatric facility located in Topeka at that time. The 
mask was received at Kansas University Museum of Anthropology (KUMA) as 
a donation from the Menninger Foundation in 1993. KUMA closed to the 
public in August 2002. In July of 2005, the collections were renamed 
the Anthropological Research and Cultural Collections (ARCC). In 
January of 2007, the collection was transferred from the ARCC to the 
Spencer Museum of Art. The one sacred object is a Yaqui Pascola Mask.

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 information, 
folklore, geographical information, historical information, kinship, 
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 Kansas 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 Pascua Yaqui 
Tribe of Arizona.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 
in this

[[Page 87797]]

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 January 18, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of Kansas 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 Kansas 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, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: December 8, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-27790 Filed 12-18-23; 8:45 am]
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