[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 16, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2642-2643]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00606]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037236; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Detroit Institute 
of Arts, Detroit, 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 Detroit Institute of Arts intends to 
repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary objects and objects of cultural patrimony and 
that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed 
from unknown locations in Alaska.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after February 15, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Denene De Quintal Ph.D., Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 
Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202, telephone (313) 578-1067, 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 
Detroit Institute of Arts. 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 Detroit 
Institute of Arts.

[[Page 2643]]

Description

    Four cultural items and two unassociated funerary objects were 
removed from an unknown location in Alaska. Between the years 1871-
1895, Frederick Stearns acquired these items and later bequeathed them 
to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) in 1907. The four objects of 
cultural patrimony include a Gooch Sh[aacute]daa (Wolf Headdress) 
(72.488); a Weix' S'eek Daakeit (Sculpin Tobacco Pipe) (72.490); a 
Xixch' S'eek Daakeit (Frog Tobacco Pipe) (72.491); and a Kaashishxaaw 
S'eek Daakeit (Dragonfly Pipe) (72.496), and one unassociated funerary 
object is a Bear Tooth amulet (99.5B2318). One unassociated funerary 
object was removed from an unknown location in Alaska. The cultural 
item was acquired by Caleb Lyon and subsequently sold to Frederick 
Stearns between the years 1871-1895. Mr. Stearns bequeathed the item to 
the DIA in 1907 with the other objects listed above. The unassociated 
funerary object is a Naaxein k'ideit (Chilkat Apron) (99.5B5047).
    One cultural item was removed from an unknown location in Alaska. 
Mrs. Bessie Visaya of Juneau, Alaska, initially obtained the item, 
which was later acquired by the Michael R. Johnson Gallery. The DIA 
purchased this object in 1977. The object of cultural patrimony is a 
Yaxt[eacute] X'oow (Big Dipper Button Blanket) (77.61).
    One cultural item was removed from an unknown location in Alaska. 
The cultural item was acquired by George E. Buchanan in 1923, who then 
donated the item to the Detroit News. The Detroit News loaned and then 
later donated the item to the DIA. The object of cultural patrimony is 
a Naaxein (Chilkat Blanket) (23.28).
    One cultural item was removed from an unknown location in Alaska. 
The Carlebach Gallery in New York obtained the item from Rasmussen on 
an unknown date. In 1959, the DIA purchased the item from the gallery. 
The object of cultural patrimony is a Naaxein Kud[aacute]s' (Chilkat 
Shirt) (59.265).
    One unassociated funerary object was removed from an unknown 
location in Alaska. Henry Glover Stevens acquired the cultural item and 
later bequeathed it to his siblings. In 1934, they donated it to the 
DIA. The unassociated funerary object is a Sheishoox (Rattle) (34.49).
    One unassociated funerary object was removed from an unknown 
location in Alaska. Richard A. Pohrt and Marion D. Pohrt purchased the 
item in 1990. They later donated it to the DIA in 1998. The 
unassociated funerary object is a shaman figure (1998.170).

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, historical, 
kinship, linguistics, and oral tradition.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Detroit Institute of Arts has determined that:
      The four 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 seven cultural items described above have ongoing 
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native 
American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an 
individual.
      There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Central Council 
of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes.

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 February 15, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Detroit Institute of Arts 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 Detroit Institute of Arts 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: January 9, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-00606 Filed 1-12-24; 8:45 am]
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