Notice2023-09470
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
May 4, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and sacred objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from near Big Cypress Swamp, Collier County, FL.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 86 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 86 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28602-28603]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09470]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035767; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of
Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL
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 University of Florida, Florida Museum of
Natural History (FLMNH) intends to repatriate certain cultural items
that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and sacred
objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or
Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were
removed from near Big Cypress Swamp, Collier County, FL.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after June 5, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Catherine Smith, University of Florida, Florida Museum of
Natural History, 1659 Museum Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, telephone
(352) 273-1921, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4b3826223f23282a3f232e3922252e0b2d272439222f2a263e382e3e26653e2d27652e2f3e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a2d1cfcbd6cac1c3d6cac7d0cbccc7e2c4cecdd0cbc6c3cfd7d1c7d7cf8cd7c4ce8cc7c6d7">[email protected]</span></a>.
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 FLMNH.
The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in
this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this
notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the
summary or related records held by FLMNH.
Description
The 29 cultural items were removed from near Big Cypress Swamp in
Collier County, FL. These cultural items originally belonged to an
unidentified Seminole warrior but were taken by Captain Winston J.T.
Stephens, commander of a company of Florida Mounted Volunteers, in the
Big Cypress Swamp on December 3, 1857, after he shot and killed the man
in a skirmish between his company and a group of ``Indians'' during the
Third Seminole War. The account was both orally passed down through the
Stephens family and documented in a journal kept by Captain Stephens.
FLMNH (called the Florida State Museum at the
[[Page 28603]]
time) acquired these cultural items from a descendent of Captain
Stephens as a private donation on 10/12/1975. These items were
accessioned to the FLMNH anthropology division as the Stephens
Collection (Acc.# 75-81) within the general ethnography collection then
incorporated into the Florida Ethnographic Collections upon its
establishment. The six unassociated funerary objects include the
Seminole warrior's belongings currently held by FLMNH. The 23 sacred
objects include items used in traditional Seminole ceremonies, which
were also in the possession of the Seminole warrior at time of death.
Cultural Affiliation
The cultural items in this notice are connected to one or more
identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a
relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier
groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or
Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were
used to reasonably trace the relationship: historical, oral tradition,
and geographical location.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, the FLMNH has determined that:
<bullet> The six 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.
<bullet> The 23 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.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Seminole Tribe
of Florida.
Requests for Repatriation
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in
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 items in this notice to a requestor
may occur on or after June 5, 2023. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, FLMNH must determine the most appropriate
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the
cultural items are considered a single request and not competing
requests. FLMNH is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the
Indian Tribe identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, 10.10,
and 10.14.
Dated: April 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-09470 Filed 5-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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