Notice2025-11143
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, CO
Primary source
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Published
June 17, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Denver Museum of Nature & Science 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 115 (Tuesday, June 17, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 115 (Tuesday, June 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 25636]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11143]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040407; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Denver Museum of Nature &
Science, Denver, CO
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 Denver Museum of Nature & Science
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 July 17, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural item in this notice to Dr. Michele Koons, Denver Museum of
Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO 80205, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5c11353f3439303972173333322f1c3831322f72332e3b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="622f0b010a070e074c290d0d0c1122060f0c114c0d1005">[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
Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 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 hair ornament.
The one sacred object, ID# AC.24, consists of a hair ornament
containing a triangular beaded pattern, a silver concha, and bear
claws. The entire object is approximately four inches in diameter.
The hair ornament was in the primary possession of Buckskin
Charley, also known as Sapiah, in the secondary possession of S.F. May,
who acquired it an unknown date, and in the tertiary possession of Mr.
George A. Cuneo, whose collection was on loan to the Denver Art Museum
from 1937 to 1956. After Cuneo's estate was settled, some of his
collection was sold to Erich Kohlberg of Kohlberg's Antiques and Indian
Arts in Denver, Colorado. The hair ornament was then purchased from
Kohlberg by Mary and Francis Crane and donated to the Denver Museum of
Nature & Science in 1968.
Joyce Herold of the Denver Museum of Natural History (now the
Denver Museum of Nature & Science) believed the object to be originally
owned by Buckskin Charley.
The hair ornament was formerly on display in the ``Navajo section''
of DMNS North American Indigenous Cultures Hall, which has been closed
to the public since June 2023. When DMNS deinstalled the ``Navajo
section'', the hair ornament was in this section because it also has a
silver concha attached to it.
Determinations
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science 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 Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado.
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 July 17, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation
are received, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science must determine the
most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint
repatriation of the cultural item are considered a single request and
not competing requests. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science 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: June 11, 2025
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-11143 Filed 6-16-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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