Notice2025-04617
Notice of Inventory Completion: Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI
Primary source
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Published
March 19, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Grand Rapids Public Museum has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 52 (Wednesday, March 19, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12785-12786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04617]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039599; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand
Rapids, MI
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 Grand Rapids Public Museum has completed
an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a
cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or
Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or
after April 18, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Alex Forist, Grand Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl Street
NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504, telephone (616) 929-1809, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a7c6c1c8d5ced4d3e7c0d5d7ca89c8d5c0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e180878e93889295a18693918ccf8e9386">[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 the
Grand Rapids Public Museum and additional information on the
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation,
can be found in its inventory or related records. The National Park
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, eight individuals have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. According to
the Grand Rapids Public Museum's records, these ancestral remains are
the human scalp locks of at least four individuals and navel amulets of
four individuals.
The first scalp lock was purchased by the Grand Rapids Public
Museum (previously called the Kent Scientific Institute) from G.A.
VanLopik (b.1873-d.1964) of Zeeland, Michigan. He displayed his
collection at the Kent Scientific Institute around 1911 and in
September 1912, Grand Rapids Public Museum purchased a substantial
number of Great Plains objects from VanLopik. A museum record listed
these scalp locks alongside garments and weapons accumulated by
VanLopik in the American West during his residence in South Dakota.
The second scalp lock was described in museum records as scalp
locks that were part of the Harry Moorman Memorial Collection. Harry A.
Moorman (b. 1889-d. 1947) was an employee of the Grand Rapids Public
Museum in the 1910s. There are no details on where the locks were
obtained.
The third scalp lock is held in a circular-shaped holder made of
leather with multi-colored beads. The GRPM donor records state these
were: ``Given to Elijah Mead of New Boston, Ill., by Chief Little Crow
in 1862'' believed to be Mdewakanton Dakota Chief Little Crow III (b.
c.1810-d. July 3, 1863). At an unknown date the scalp lock and holder
were obtained by Lynn Munger (b. 1918-d. 2017) an antiquities dealer
from Steuben County, Indiana who stated they were from the Howard
Collection of Rock Island, Illinois. Dr. Ruth Herrick (b.1895-d.1974)
of Lowell, Michigan purchased them in 1970 from Munger. In 1974, the
Grand Rapids Public Museum acquired these from Ruth Herrick by bequest.
The fourth scalp lock is attached to a war club and is noted in the
GRPM records as being from the Northern Plains. It was donated to GRPM
by R.A. O'Donald of Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1952 who donated several
Native American cultural objects from the Midwestern United States.
The four navel amulets are beaded pouches that each contain the
preserved umbilical cord of a child. The navel amulet is sewn in the
shape of a turtle for girls and a lizard for boys. These are
geographically associated with Native American Plains cultures and used
as a protective charm throughout a child's life and usually buried with
them upon their death.
There are two turtle-shaped navel amulets representing two
individuals acquired from G.A. VanLopik (b.1873-d.1964) of Zeeland,
Michigan in 1905. One is described as Sioux and the other Cheyenne. He
displayed his collection at the Kent Scientific Institute around 1911
and in September 1912, Grand Rapids Public Museum purchased a
substantial number of additional Great
[[Page 12786]]
Plains objects from VanLopik. He had a residence in South Dakota.
The third turtle-shaped navel amulet represents one individual and
was donated to GRPM by R.A. O'Donald of Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1952
who donated several Native American cultural objects from the
Midwestern United States.
The fourth is a lizard-shaped navel amulet representing one
individual that was donated by Dr. Ruth Herrick (b.1895-d.1974) of
Lowell, Michigan. Museum records describe it as Sioux. In 1974, the
Grand Rapids Public Museum acquired these from Ruth Herrick by bequest.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains.
Determinations
The Grand Rapids Public Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of a minimum of eight individuals of Native American
ancestry.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains described
in this notice and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River
Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek
Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South
Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South
Dakota; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Oglala
Sioux Tribe; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Prairie Island Indian Community
in the State of Minnesota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian
Reservation, South Dakota; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of
the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
of North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold
Reservation, North Dakota; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; Winnebago
Tribe of Nebraska; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this
notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this
notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:
1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice.
2. 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains described in this notice to a
requestor may occur on or after April 18, 2025. If competing requests
for repatriation are received, the Grand Rapids Public Museum must
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation.
Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains are considered a
single request and not competing requests. The Grand Rapids Public
Museum is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian
Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: February 25, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-04617 Filed 3-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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