[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 71 (Thursday, April 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25664-25665]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07711]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037712; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: Mount Holyoke College Art 
Museum, South Hadley, MA

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 Mount Holyoke College Art Museum intends 
to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of sacred 
objects or objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural 
affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after May 13, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Abigail Hoover, Associate Director of Registration and 
Collections, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Lower Lake Road, South 
Hadley, MA 01075, telephone (413) 538-2492, 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 
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, 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 11 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. 
The seven sacred objects consist of catlinite pipe bowls and pipe 
stems. The four objects of cultural patrimony include a pair of 
gauntlet gloves, a jacket, a quiver, and a bow case.
    Each of the 11 cultural objects in this notice are part of the 
Joseph Allen Skinner Museum collection, which was donated to the 
Trustees of Mount Holyoke College by Skinner after his death in 1946. 
Like many of the objects in the Skinner collection, there is no extant 
provenance information and it is unclear when these objects were 
acquired, though pictures show the display of these objects by Skinner 
as early as 1934.
    Catlinite pipes are pipes made of catlinite, a type of mudstone 
that can only be found in parts of southwest Minnesota, southeastern 
South Dakota, and northwest Iowa, adjacent to the site of Pipestone 
National Monument. Catlinite has been used to make ceremonial pipes 
important to the religious practices of Indigenous peoples of the Great 
Plains for over 3,000 years. These sacred pipes have been used in 
prayer and religious ceremonies by the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe and 
possess deep spiritual significance.
    The quiver and bow case, jacket, and gauntlet gloves in the Skinner 
Museum collection are imbued with ongoing historical, traditional, and/
or cultural importance to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. The quiver 
and bow case are decorated with the spiritually significant practice of 
quillwork, the jacket is embroidered with beadwork using culturally 
significant colors and designs, and the gauntlet gloves possess floral 
beadwork that is particularly connected to the history and geography of 
the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe.
    Based on the above definitions and a general knowledge of these 
objects possessing both ceremonial, spiritual, and cultural 
significance, the claim for repatriation to the Flandreau Santee Sioux 
Tribe of South Dakota will be honored.

Determinations

    The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum has determined that:
     The seven sacred objects described in this notice are 
specific ceremonial objects needed by a traditional Native American 
religious leader for present-day adherents to practice traditional 
Native American religion, according to the Native American traditional 
knowledge of a lineal descendant,

[[Page 25665]]

Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization.
     The four objects of cultural patrimony described in this 
notice have 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), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of 
an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural 
items described in this notice and the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of 
South Dakota.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified 
in this notice under 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 May 13, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum 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 Mount Holyoke College 
Art Museum 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: April 2, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-07711 Filed 4-10-24; 8:45 am]
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