[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 245 (Monday, December 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76365-76366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29902]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-17145; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Honolulu Museum of
Art, Honolulu, HI
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Honolulu Museum of Art, in consultation with the
appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has
determined that the cultural item listed in this notice meets the
definition of an object of cultural patrimony. Lineal descendants or
representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not
identified in this notice that wish to claim this cultural item should
submit a written request to the Honolulu Museum of Art. If no
additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural
item to the lineal descendants or Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian
organizations stated in this notice may proceed.
DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to
claim this cultural item should submit a written request with
information in support of the claim to the Honolulu Museum of Art at
the address in this notice by January 21, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Stephan Jost, Director, Honolulu Museum of Art, 900 South
Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96814, telephone (808) 532-8717, email
sjost@honolulumuseum.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate a cultural item under the
control of the Honolulu Museum of Art that meets the definition of an
object 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 in this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum
that has control of the Native American cultural item. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
History and Description of the Cultural Item
In the early 1920s, a totem pole was removed by John Barrymore from
Tuxican in Alaska, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. In
1981, it was given to Honolulu Museum of Art by Vincent and Mary Grant
Price, who had obtained it from the estate of Barrymore. The one object
of cultural patrimony is a Henya Tlingit totem pole, circa 1900,
redwood with traces of polychrome, height 24\3/4\ ft.
In a letter dated January 21, 2013, Don Nickerson, Jr. wrote to
Stephan Jost of Honolulu Museum of Art requesting to consult on the
object. As President of the Klawock Cooperative Association, the
federally recognized IRA tribe of the Henya Tlingit people of Klawock,
AK, Mr. Nickerson stated that one of their traditional villages was
Tuxican, AK, on
[[Page 76366]]
the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. He further stated that this
village was the location of numerous totem poles erected by their
ancestors, most of which were mortuary poles dedicated to the memory of
the deceased. Mr. Nickerson explained that according to information
that they obtained, the pole was taken from the village site by the
party of the actor John Barrymore who was traveling through the area by
yacht. He explained that the village was not occupied at that time
because residents had relocated to Klawock. In February 2013, the
Klawock Cooperative Association sent their representative, the
anthropologist Dr. Steve J. Langdon, to visit Honolulu Museum of Art to
examine and photograph the totem pole.
Dr. Langdon published a report dated March 1, 2013, titled, Tuxican
Photo Commentary Related to Tlingit Pole Located as the Honolulu Museum
of Art. In it he stated that ``Tlingit carver Jon Rowan, a descendant
of Tuxican village residents now residing in Klawock, Alaska and myself
consider the pole to be representative of Wuckitan clan crests of the
Raven moiety. It was likely raised to commemorate the death of a wife
of a high-ranking Tuxican chief of the Wolf moiety in the latter half
of the 19th century.'' In a series of archival photographs Dr. Langdon
identified the pole in the oldest known image of the entire village of
Tuxican around the 1880s. He identified the totem pole in association
with the surrounding houses and other totem poles and gives approximate
dates, thereby establishing the precise identity of the totem pole and
substantiating the claim of the Klawock Cooperative Association.
Determinations Made by the Honolulu Museum of Art
Officials of the Honolulu Museum of Art have determined that:
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), the one totem pole
described above has ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural
importance central to the Native American group or culture itself,
rather than property owned by an individual.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the object
of cultural patrimony and Klawock Cooperative Association.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim
these cultural items should submit a written request with information
in support of the claim to Stephan Jost, Director, Honolulu Museum of
Art, 900 South Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96814, telephone (808) 532-
8717, email sjost@honolulumuseum, by January 21, 2015. After that date,
if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of
the object of cultural patrimony to Klawock Cooperative Association may
proceed.
The Honolulu Museum of Art is responsible for notifying the Klawock
Cooperative Association that this notice has been published.
Dated: November 7, 2014.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-29902 Filed 12-19-14; 8:45 am]
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