[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 115 (Tuesday, June 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 25636]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11143]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040407; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: Denver Museum of Nature & 
Science, Denver, CO

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 Denver Museum of Nature & Science 
intends to repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition 
of a sacred 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 July 17, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the 
cultural item in this notice to Dr. Michele Koons, Denver Museum of 
Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO 80205, 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 
Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 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 sacred object is a hair ornament.
    The one sacred object, ID# AC.24, consists of a hair ornament 
containing a triangular beaded pattern, a silver concha, and bear 
claws. The entire object is approximately four inches in diameter.
    The hair ornament was in the primary possession of Buckskin 
Charley, also known as Sapiah, in the secondary possession of S.F. May, 
who acquired it an unknown date, and in the tertiary possession of Mr. 
George A. Cuneo, whose collection was on loan to the Denver Art Museum 
from 1937 to 1956. After Cuneo's estate was settled, some of his 
collection was sold to Erich Kohlberg of Kohlberg's Antiques and Indian 
Arts in Denver, Colorado. The hair ornament was then purchased from 
Kohlberg by Mary and Francis Crane and donated to the Denver Museum of 
Nature & Science in 1968.
    Joyce Herold of the Denver Museum of Natural History (now the 
Denver Museum of Nature & Science) believed the object to be originally 
owned by Buckskin Charley.
    The hair ornament was formerly on display in the ``Navajo section'' 
of DMNS North American Indigenous Cultures Hall, which has been closed 
to the public since June 2023. When DMNS deinstalled the ``Navajo 
section'', the hair ornament was in this section because it also has a 
silver concha attached to it.

Determinations

    The Denver Museum of Nature & Science has determined that:
     The one sacred object described in this notice is a 
specific ceremonial object 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.
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural item 
described in this notice and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado.

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 July 17, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation 
are received, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science 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 Denver Museum of Nature & Science 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: June 11, 2025
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-11143 Filed 6-16-25; 8:45 am]
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