FR Doc E8-6571[Federal Register: March 31, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 62)]
[Notices]
[Page 16901-16902]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31mr08-96]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Amerind Foundation
Museum, Amerind Foundation, Inc., Dragoon, AZ; Correction

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; correction.

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    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 in the possession of the Amerind
Foundation Museum, Amerind Foundation, Inc., Dragoon, AZ, that meet the
definition of "objects of cultural patrimony" and "sacred 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 cultural
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
    This notice replaces a previously published Notice of Intent to
Repatriate in the Federal Register of December 19, 2007, (FR Doc E7-
24645, page 71964), by identifying the cultural items as both "objects
of cultural patrimony" and as "sacred objects." The cultural items
were originally only identified as "sacred objects."
    The 140 objects include 38 painted wooden hoops; 17 painted wooden
wands; 17 miscellaneous mask-making raw materials (sticks, feathers,
leather); 16 "bowed crosses;" 16 ceremonial Gaan masks; 9 painted
wooden crosses; 7 plant stem bundles (sage, fir, bear grass); 5 painted
wooden staves; 5 wooden drumsticks; 4 painted "headed" sticks; 3
wooden bullroars; 1 metal tulapai strainer; 1 metal bread cooker; and 1
eagle feather bundle. The cultural items are from the William Neil
Smith Apache Collection. The collection is well documented by
photographs and journals, and supplemented by interviews conducted with
Mr. Smith by the staff of the Arizona State Museum in Tucson.
    In the spring of 1942, the 140 cultural items were removed from
caves in the vicinity of Canyon Day on the Fort Apache Reservation in
eastern Arizona by William Neil Smith, a collector from Tucson, AZ. In
October 1942, the collection was loaned by Mr. Smith to the Arizona
State Museum on the condition that it would be returned when Mr. Smith
was released from active duty in the military. From 1944 to 1945,
letters were exchanged between the director of the Arizona State
Museum, superintendent of the Fort Apache Reservation, and Chair of the
Fort Apache Tribal Council, and it was determined at that time that the
collections were removed illegally. On October 1, 1945, the Fort Apache
Tribal Council voted unanimously to donate the entire collection to the
Arizona State Museum, to use them as the museum saw fit. Accordingly,
the collection was accessioned into the permanent collection of the
Arizona State Museum, and there are no further entries on the
collection in the Arizona State Museum files until 1959.
    In November 1959, in response to a request from Mr. Smith to
reclaim his 1942 loan from the Arizona State Museum, museum staff
informed Mr. Smith that the Apache ceremonial objects had been donated
to the museum by the Apache Tribal Council and, therefore, would not be
returned. However, the collection was returned to Mr. Smith. On
November 11, 1963, the collection was sold in its entirety to a member
of the Amerind Foundation Board of Directors. The member donated the
materials to the Amerind Foundation where it was accessioned into the
foundation's permanent collection (Accession Nos. 4499-4583). In April
1966, the Arizona State Museum provided the Amerind with copies of
photographs, catalog cards, and other records pertaining to the
cultural items.
    In June 2005, the Amerind Foundation consulted with tribal
representatives of the San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos
Reservation, Arizona; Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain
Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona; and Yavapai-
Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian Reservation, Arizona. Tribal
representatives identified the cultural items as culturally affiliated
with Western Apache Indian tribes.
    In August 2005, the White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache
Reservation, Arizona formally requested the return of all materials in
the collection as sacred objects for the practice of traditional Native
American religion by their present-day adherents. The cultural items
were originally made and used by Western Apache religious leaders
during the annual ceremonial cycle. These ceremonial activities remain
an important part of White Mountain Apache daily life. According to
White Mountain Apache cultural tradition, once the objects were used
they were to be curated according to traditional religious practices
and never used or seen again by humans.
    According to the traditional cultural authorities, the cultural
items also have ongoing historical, traditional, and cultural
importance to the Western Apache, and today, must be returned to the
tribes representing the Western Apache to fully complete the ceremonial
cycle into which they were introduced; as such, the cultural items are
objects of cultural patrimony.
    In 2006, the Amerind Foundation Board of Directors voted
unanimously to treat the William Neil Smith Collection as stolen
property and to return all 140 cultural items to the White Mountain
Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona.
    Officials of the Amerind Foundation Museum have determined that,
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the 140 cultural items described
above are specific ceremonial objects needed by traditional Native
American religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native
American religions by their present-day adherents. Officials of the
Amerind Foundation Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C.
3001 (3)(D), the 140 cultural items described above have ongoing
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native
American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an
individual. Lastly, officials of the Amerind Foundation Museum 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 sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony and the White
Mountain

[[Page 16902]]

Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the sacred objects/objects of cultural
patrimony should contact Dr. John A. Ware, Executive Director, Amerind
Foundation Museum, Amerind Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 400, 2100 North
Amerind Road, Dragoon, AZ 85609, telephone (520) 586-3666, before April
30, 2008. Repatriation of the sacred objects/objects of cultural
patrimony to the White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache
Reservation, Arizona may proceed after that date if no additional
claimants come forward.
    The Amerind Foundation is responsible for notifying the San Carlos
Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona; Tonto Apache Tribe
of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation,
Arizona; and Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian
Reservation, Arizona that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 20, 2008.
Sherry Hutt,
Manger, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-6571 Filed 3-28-08; 8:45 am]

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