[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 13839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05094]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22929; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Museum of Natural 
History and Planetarium, Roger Williams Park, Providence, RI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, Roger Williams 
Park, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed 
in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. 
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 to the Museum of 
Natural History and Planetarium, Roger Williams Park. If no additional 
claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items to 
the lineal descendants, 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 these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Museum of Natural History 
and Planetarium, Roger Williams Park, at the address in this notice by 
April 14, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Michael W. Kieron, Museum of Natural History and 
Planetarium, Roger Williams Park, 100 Elmwood Avenue, Providence, RI 
02907, telephone (401) 680-7248, email [email protected].

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 cultural items under the 
control of the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, Roger 
Williams Park, that meet the definition of unassociated funerary 
objects 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, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    In the late 1920s and early 1930s, six cultural items were removed 
from the Mix Cave site (PU 93) in Pulaski County, MO, by Mr. and Mrs. 
Edward H. Nadeau. The six unassociated funerary objects are 5 potsherds 
and 1 worked white-tailed deer ulna. The objects were donated to the 
Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, Roger Williams Park, by Mr. 
and Mrs. Nadeau on January 23, 1933. The objects are all labeled ``Mix 
Cave, Pulaski Co., Mo.'' They were given the catalog number E2706 and 
the accession number 8918. The objects were part of a collection of 50 
lots of American Indian objects and geological specimens collected in 
the 1920s by the Nadeaus. No other records related to this donation 
have been located.
    Following an examination by representatives of The Osage Nation 
(previously listed as the Osage Tribe) in January 2016, the Osage 
Nation and the museum concurred that the objects are unassociated 
funerary objects. The Osage Nation considers the Mix Cave site (PU 93) 
a sacred site and a burial located on Osage ancestral lands.

Determinations Made by the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, 
Roger Williams Park

    Officials of the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, Roger 
Williams Park, have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 6 cultural items 
described above are reasonably believed to have been placed with or 
near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of 
the death rite or ceremony and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects and The Osage Nation (previously listed 
as the Osage Tribe).

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 Michael W. Kieron, Museum of Natural History 
and Planetarium, Roger Williams Park, 100 Elmwood Avenue, Providence, 
RI 02907, telephone (401) 680-7248, email [email protected] by 
April 14, 2017. After that date, if no additional claimants have come 
forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary objects to 
The Osage Nation (previously listed as the Osage Tribe) may proceed.
    The Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, Roger Williams Park, 
is responsible for notifying The Osage Nation (previously listed as the 
Osage Tribe) that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 14, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-05094 Filed 3-14-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P