[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67660-67661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18677]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038525; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: University of North Dakota, 
Grand Forks, ND, and University of North Dakota Alumni Association & 
Foundation, Grand Forks, ND

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 North Dakota and the UND 
Alumni Association & Foundation intend to repatriate certain cultural 
items that meet the definition of sacred objects and/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 September 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Crystal Alberts, University of North Dakota, Twamley 
Hall Room 300, 264 Centennial Drive, Grand Forks, ND 58202, telephone 
(701) 777-2393, 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 North Dakota and the UND Alumni Association & Foundation, 
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 five cultural items have been requested for 
repatriation.
    The first object of cultural patrimony is a saddle. This item was a 
part of the Victor A. Corbett Collection, gifted to the UND Alumni 
Association & Foundation (UNDAAF) circa February 1988. According to New 
York City-based appraisers consulted by the UNDAAF in the 1980s, most 
of these items are estimated to date from the 1890s through the 1950s 
with most acquired by Corbett in the 1940s and 50s and appear to be 
from tribes in what is now North Dakota and surrounding states.
    Victor A. Corbett, a dentist in Minot, ND from 1931-1984, was 
reported to accept artifacts from Native Americans in the surrounding 
area, namely the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the residents of the 
nearby Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold Reservation, sometimes 
in lieu of payment for dental services. Documents suggest he also 
collected objects related to Native American culture through various 
means, including purchasing and commissioning custom-made pieces. 
Additionally, research suggests that he would take objects from 
patients as collateral for an outstanding bill for

[[Page 67661]]

dental services rendered. Collection records do not provide any 
additional information regarding the objects' provenience or 
provenance.
    The object of cultural patrimony is described by the appraiser as 
``Rawhide pad saddle with floral beaded designs in ovoid circles at the 
four corners and on four attached rectangular side panels. Three shades 
of green, two shades of pink, two shades of blue and yellow beads in 
the floral design on a white background. Stirrups and cinch strap are 
added and not original. Turtle Mountain Chippewa. ca. 1880. Good 
condition.'' The object has not been treated with potentially hazardous 
substances to the best of the institutions' knowledge.
    The other four cultural items include one sacred object, which is a 
pipe made of black stone, and three sacred objects/objects of cultural 
patrimony, which are a hand drum and two decorated drumsticks. These 
items were a part of the Emily Doak Wolff Collection, gifted to the UND 
Alumni Association & Foundation in May 1992. In 1914, the University of 
North Dakota (UND) staged ``A Pageant of the North-West.'' 
Contemporaneous accounts from 1914 in UND's student newspaper, the 1916 
Dakotah yearbook, and UND Department of Theatre records indicate that 
individuals from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians were 
invited to participate in the ``A Pageant of the North-West'' of 1914, 
including Flying Eagle (Marchebenus) and Temoweneni (Little Boy). Henry 
A. Doak, former UND faculty member, oversaw props for this production, 
which included the use of the sacred objects/objects of cultural 
patrimony described within this notice. No object has been treated with 
potentially hazardous substances to the best of the institutions' 
knowledge.

Determinations

    The University of North Dakota and the UND Alumni Association & 
Foundation has determined that:
     The one sacred object 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, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
     The one object of cultural patrimony described in this 
notice 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), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of 
an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
     The three sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony 
described in this notice are, according to the Native American 
traditional knowledge of an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization, specific ceremonial objects needed by a traditional 
Native American religious leader for present-day adherents to practice 
traditional Native American religion, and 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).
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural 
items described in this notice and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa 
Indians of North 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 September 20, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of North Dakota and the UND 
Alumni Association & Foundation 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 North Dakota and the UND Alumni Association 
& Foundation are 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: August 7, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-18677 Filed 8-20-24; 8:45 am]
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