Notice2025-08470
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
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 14, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts intends to repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of a sacred object and that has a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 92 (Wednesday, May 14, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 92 (Wednesday, May 14, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20493-20494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-08470]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040116; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,
Richmond, VA
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 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts intends to
repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of a
sacred object and that has a cultural affiliation with the Indian
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or
after June 13, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Siera Hyte, Schiller Family Curator of Indigenous American
Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N Arthur Ashe Boulevard,
Richmond, VA 23220, telephone (804) 340-1613, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a6d5cfc3d4c788cedfd2c3e6d0cbc0c788cbd3d5c3d3cb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="94e7fdf1e6f5bafcede0f1d4e2f9f2f5baf9e1e7f1e1f9">[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
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and additional information on the
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation,
can be found in the summary or related records. The National Park
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
A total of one cultural item has been requested for repatriation.
The one sacred object is a basket made of grasses, sedge root, bracken
root, and redbud. The museum's records indicate that it was made in the
late 19th century. The basket was purchased from Arthur W. Erickson in
Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1994 by Robert and Nancy Nooter, who donated it
to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in March 2016. It is not currently
known when Erickson acquired the object. Results of consultation with
the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe's Tribal Historic
[[Page 20494]]
Preservation Office confirm that the sacred object's designs indicate
its connection to Chemehuevi Salt Song ceremonies. To our knowledge, no
potentially hazardous substances were used to treat the basket.
Determinations
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has determined that:
<bullet> The one sacred object described in this notice is a
specific ceremonial object needed by a traditional Native American
religious leader for present-day adherents to practice traditional
Native American religion, according to the Native American traditional
knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization.
<bullet> There is a reasonable connection between the cultural item
described in this notice and the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the
Chemehuevi Reservation, California.
Requests for Repatriation
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified
in this notice under 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 item in this notice to a requestor may
occur on or after June 13, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation
are received, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 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 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is responsible
for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native
Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and to any other
consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.
Dated: April 30, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-08470 Filed 5-13-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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