[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13371-13372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03570]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037403; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: State Historical Society of 
Wisconsin, Madison, WI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the State Historical Society of Wisconsin 
intends to repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition 
of both a sacred object and an object of cultural patrimony and that 
has a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations in this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or 
after March 25, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Jacqueline Pozza Reisner, Curator of American Indian 
Collections, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 204 S. Thornton 
Avenue, Madison, WI 53703, telephone (608) 263-3537, email 
[email protected] and 
[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 
State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and additional information on 
the determinations in this notice, including the results of 
consultation, can be found in the summary or related records. The 
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this 
notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    A total of one cultural item has been requested for repatriation. 
The one item that is both a sacred item and an object of cultural 
patrimony is a pipe bowl and stem that was removed an unknown location, 
probably in Wisconsin, possibly from Madeline Island. The State 
Historical Society of Wisconsin's documentation does not indicate the 
specific provenience nor provenance of this pipe and stem. The pipe and 
stem are housed at the Society's Madeline Island Museum, which was 
founded in 1958 by Bella and Leo Capser, who collected historical items 
of Madeline Island and of broader Native American communities. The 
Museum and the Capser's collections were donated to the State 
Historical Society on August 27, 1968 with legal control of its 
collections being turned over to the Society at that time. This 1968 
agreement between Madeline Island Museum, Inc. and the State Historical 
Society of Wisconsin does not prohibit it from following federal 
mandates under NAGPRA. During this transfer, much of the documentation 
noting provenience and provenance of the Museum's holdings had been 
lost prior to that transfer. The collection was first cataloged by the 
Society in 1983. Much of the original provenience and provenance 
information is missing and is currently unknown.
    The one sacred object/object of cultural patrimony is a pipe (bowl 
and stem) that was assigned the catalog number MI1983.237.356 by the 
Society. The bowl is made of catlinite and has lead inlay. The stem is 
carved out of wood to have a spiral shape and is painted with blue-
green, yellow, and red pigments. An eagle and geometric figures are 
engraved on the stem. Four feathers are suspended from the pipe stem 
with strings of beads. The Society

[[Page 13372]]

has no records indicating that this pipe and stem were exposed to any 
hazardous substances while in the Society's stewardship.
    Through consultation, it has been determined that the pipe and stem 
are used in a multitude of contemporary ceremonies by traditional 
religious leaders. They are also traditionally owned by an entire Tribe 
and are passed onto caretakers. They are not individually owned and are 
important to maintaining cultural and religious practices of the Tribe.

Determinations

    The State Historical Society of Wisconsin has determined that:
     The one object described in this notice is, according to 
the Native American traditional knowledge of an Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization, a specific ceremonial object needed by a 
traditional Native American religious leader for present-day adherents 
to practice traditional Native American religion, and has ongoing 
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native 
American group, including any constituent sub-group (such as a band, 
clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other subdivision).
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural item 
described in this notice and the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior 
Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin and 
the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin.

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 March 25, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin 
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 State Historical Society 
of Wisconsin is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the 
Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this 
notice and to any other consulting parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

    Dated: February 9, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-03570 Filed 2-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P