[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13367-13368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03576]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037409; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of 
Hawai[revaps]i, Hawai[revaps]i

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 Hawai[revaps]i intends to 
repatriate certain cultural items that

[[Page 13368]]

meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and that have a 
cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from a 
burial cave on the Kona coast of Hawai[revaps]i island.

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

ADDRESSES: Dr. Jonathan Osorio, Dean of Hawai[revaps]inui[amacr]kea 
School of Hawaiian Knowledge, University of Hawai[revaps]i-M[amacr]noa, 
2540 Maile Way, HI 96822, telephone (808) 956-0980, 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 Hawai[revaps]i. 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 Hawai[revaps]i.

Description

    Two burial kapa (bark cloth) were recently discovered within 
numbered editions of a book entitled Specimens of Hawaiian Kapa Vol I 
by D.R. Severson within the UH Library system. One edition, No. 20, 2 
was found in the UH-Manoa (UHM) Hamilton Library, GN432.S37, while the 
other edition, No. 28, was found in the UH-Hilo Mo[revaps]okini 
Library, GN432.S37. All respective numbered editions of the book (No.'s 
1 to 95) were published by Severson in 1979, with No.'s 1-50 including 
samples of burial kapa. UH M[amacr]noa acquired a copy (No. 20) in the 
same year it was published; UH Hilo received a donation of a copy (No. 
28) in 2019. Each book contained actual kapa samples that Severson had 
gathered over the years from various notable collections and 
individuals; however, the burial kapa was from Severson's personal 
collection. The only detail regarding their acquisition indicates that 
they were acquired from burial caves on the Kona Coast of 
Hawai[revaps]i Island. There is no way to determine if they were 
illicitly acquired or not. As the book contains traditional Hawaiian 
kapa acquired during the 19th century, its assumed that the burial kapa 
may have also likely been acquired during the same time period. Its 
further unknown if these burial kapa were exclusively made for burial 
or if they were personal belongings of the deceased.

Cultural Affiliation

    A detailed assessment of the unassociated funerary objects was made 
by UH staff in consultation with representatives of Hui Iwi 
Kuamo[revaps]o and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). There is a 
relationship of shared group identity that can reasonably be traced 
between the unassociated funerary object and present-day Native 
Hawaiian organizations listed in this notice. The following types of 
information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: 
anthropological information, historical information, 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 Hawai[revaps]i has determined that:
     The two 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Hui Iwi 
Kuamo[revaps]o.

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 March 25, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of Hawai[revaps]i 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 
Hawai[revaps]i is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the 
Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this 
notice.
    This notice was submitted before the effective date of the revised 
regulations (88 FR 86452, December 13, 2023, effective January 12, 
2024). As the notice conforms to the mandatory format of the Federal 
Register and includes the required information, the National Park 
Service is publishing this notice as submitted.
    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. 2024-03576 Filed 2-21-24; 8:45 am]
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