[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 18, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 102950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-29945]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039216; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: The Children's Museum of 
Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN

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 Children's Museum of Indianapolis 
intends to repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition 
of an unassociated funerary object 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 January 17, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Jennifer Noffze, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, 3000 
N Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46208, telephone (317) 334-3722, 
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 
Children's Museum of Indianapolis, 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 unassociated funerary object is a red and brown stone animal 
effigy pipe. It was found in a mound near Marietta, Ohio, prior to 
1900, and it was formerly a part of the Judge Claude U. Stone 
Collection at Peoria, Illinois. It was donated to the museum in 1968 by 
Earl Townsend, Jr. Marietta, Ohio is part of the ancestral homelands of 
the Shawnee Nation, which includes the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of 
Oklahoma and the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.

Determinations

    The Children's Museum of Indianapolis has determined that:
     The one unassociated funerary object described in this 
notice is reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or 
near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death or 
later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American 
culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a 
lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The 
unassociated funerary object has been identified by a preponderance of 
the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or 
families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an 
individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe 
or Native Hawaiian organization.
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural item 
described in this notice and the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 
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 item in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after January 17, 2025. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis 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 Children's Museum of 
Indianapolis 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: December 11, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-29945 Filed 12-17-24; 8:45 am]
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