FR Doc 03-29774
[Federal Register: December 1, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 230)]
[Notices]
[Page 67208]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01de03-98]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Kansas State
Historical Society, Topeka, KS
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is here given in accordance with Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) regulations, 43 CFR10.8 (f),
of the intent to repatriate five cultural items in the possession of
the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, KS, that meet the
definition of ``objects of cultural patrimony'' under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3).
The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the
cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations within this notice.
The five cultural items are a medicine outfit, a ceremonial sash, a
set of feathers in a feather case, a set of wampum beads, and a
medicine love charm. All of these items were purchased by the Kansas
State Historical Society in 1956 from the Logan Museum of Anthropology,
Beloit College, Beloit, WI.
The medicine outfit consists of a small metal can surrounded by a
thong from which hang four large claws separated by brass beads. The
upper portion of the can is covered with a piece of dark blue cotton
cloth. The letter of transfer from the Logan Museum of Anthropology
identified the item as a ``Sac and Fox medicine outfit.''
The ceremonial sash is a woven band 1.5 m long and 18 cm wide made
of multicolored wool yarn. It has a lightning design that was
identified by Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, Sac
& Fox Nation of Oklahoma, and Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in
Iowa representatives as associated with upper-level or leading clans of
the Sac and Fox tribes. The letter of transfer from the Logan Museum of
Anthropology identified the item as a ``Sac and Fox sash.''
The feathers and feather case consist of a set of turkey feathers
contained within two hollow sections of wood with rounded ends that
slide together to form a case 45 cm long and 13 cm wide. The letter of
transfer from the Logan Museum of Anthropology identified the item as a
``Sac and Fox feather case.''
The wampum beads consist of a set of black and white tubular glass
beads strung on three looped strands of cotton cord approximately 1.0 m
long tied with a thong at one end. The letter of transfer from the
Logan Museum of Anthropology identified the item as ``Sac and Fox
wompum [sic].''
The medicine love charm consists of a strand of glass beads of
mixed colors and sizes strung on a thong with a small brass thimble at
one end carrying four orange- and tan-colored satin ribbons,
accompanied by a small cotton bag bearing a red and black-pattern
design tied with a leather thong. The letter of transfer from the Logan
Museum of Anthropology identifies the item as a ``Sac and Fox medicine
love charm.''
On several occasions beginning in 1997, representatives of the Sac
& Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, the Sac & Fox Nation
of Oklahoma, and the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa visited
the Kansas State Historical Society to examine the society's
collections as part of the NAGPRA consultation process. During the
visits, the representatives identified the cultural items described
above as objects of cultural patrimony having ongoing historical,
traditional, and cultural importance to the Sac and Fox tribes as a
whole, and stated that they considered the items to be of such central
importance that the items could not have been legitimately alienated,
appropriated, or conveyed by any individual. In a letter to the Kansas
State Historical Society dated October 17, 2002, the three tribes
provided formal indication of their wish to jointly claim those items
as objects of cultural patrimony, and for those items to be repatriated
to the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
Officials of the Kansas State Historical Society have determined
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), the cultural items have
ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the
Native American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by
an individual. Officials of the Kansas State Historical Society also
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced
between the cultural items and the Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in
Kansas and Nebraska, the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma, and the Sac &
Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the objects of cultural patrimony should
contact Randall M. Thies, Kansas State Historical Society, 6425 SW
Sixth Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099, telephone (785) 272-8681,
extension 267, before December 31, 2003. Repatriation of the objects of
cultural patrimony to the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
The Kansas State Historical Society is responsible for notifying
the Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, the Sac & Fox
Nation of Oklahoma, and the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
that this notice has been published.
Dated: September 17, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-29774 Filed 11-28-03; 8:45 am]
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