Notice2023-24887
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Saint Louis Science Center, St. Louis, MO
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
November 13, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Saint Louis Science Center (SLSC) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and certain cultural items that meet the definition of objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from Jefferson and New Madrid Counties, MO.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 217 (Monday, November 13, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 217 (Monday, November 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77610-77611]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24887]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036899; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Saint Louis
Science Center, St. Louis, MO
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 Saint Louis Science Center (SLSC)
intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition
of unassociated funerary objects and certain cultural items that meet
the definition of objects of cultural patrimony and that have a
cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from
Jefferson and New Madrid Counties, MO.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after December 13, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Kristina Hampton, Manager of Collections and Special
Projects, Saint Louis Science Center, 5050 Oakland Avenue, St. Louis,
MO 63110, telephone (314) 286-4672, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1c576e756f6875727d32747d716c6873725c6f706f7f32736e7b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a310813090e13141b54121b170a0e15143a091609195415081d">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the
National Park Service's administrative
[[Page 77611]]
responsibilities under NAGPRA. The determinations in this notice are
the sole responsibility of the SLSC. 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
the SLSC.
Description
Twenty-nine cultural items were removed from Jefferson County, MO,
and 12 cultural items were removed from New Madrid County, MO, by
archeologist Robert McCormick Adams between 1939 and 1942 during
archeological investigations in the state. In 1939 and 1940, Adams
conducted the investigations in Jefferson County, MO, on behalf of the
Academy of Science of St. Louis and sponsored by the Works Projects
Administration (WPA), with support from Washington University of St.
Louis, the Missouri Resources Museum in Jefferson City, MO, the
Illinois State Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
DC. The bulk of the items removed during these excavations were taken
to the Academy of Science of St. Louis while a representative ratio of
duplicate materials excavated were sent to the Illinois State Museum
and to the Smithsonian Institution. In 1941 and 1942, Adams directed
investigations in in New Madrid County, MO, for the WPA, sponsored by
the Academy of Science of St. Louis and the Missouri Resources Museum.
The items removed during these excavations were taken to the Academy of
Science of St. Louis.
In 1959, the Academy of Science of St. Louis created the Museum of
Science and Natural History in St. Louis, MO. In 1972, the Museum of
Science and Natural History separated from the Academy of Science of
St. Louis and control of this collection was transferred to the Museum
of Science and Natural History. In 1985, when the Museum of Science and
Natural History joined with St. Louis City's Planetarium, the newly
formed institution was named the Saint Louis Science Center. This
collection remains with the SLSC and is used to support the SLSC's
mission, exhibits, and programs.
The 36 unassociated funerary objects are 13 ceramic jars, nine
ceramic bowls, one ceramic bottle, one ceramic pot, four projectile
points, four soil samples, two adzes, one axe, and one shell bead
necklace. The five objects of cultural patrimony are one ceramic pipe,
one bone effigy hair pin, two ceramic ear plugs, and one ceramic human
effigy.
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: oral tradition, linguistics,
archeological data, and historical information.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, the SLSC has determined that:
<bullet> The 36 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 5 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.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and The Osage Nation.
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 December 13, 2023. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the SLSC 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. The SLSC 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: November 1, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-24887 Filed 11-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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