Notice2025-17618
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
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
September 12, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Denver Art Museum intends to repatriate 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 175 (Friday, September 12, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 175 (Friday, September 12, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44219-44220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-17618]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6507; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041052; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Denver Art Museum, 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 Art Museum intends to repatriate
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.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after October 14, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Jennifer (Jennie) Trujillo, Denver Art
Museum, 100 W 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO 80204, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#95ffe1e7e0fffcf9f9fad5f1f0fbe3f0e7f4e7e1f8e0e6f0e0f8bbfae7f2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fd97898f889794919192bd9998938b988f9c8f8990888e988890d3928f9a">[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 Art Museum, 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 four cultural items have been requested for
repatriation. The four objects of cultural patrimony are two medicine
bundles with multiple objects inside, and two Tomahawk Lodge sticks.
The first medicine bundle was ostensibly in the collection of Charlie
Lefthand, and was then purchased by Erich Kohlberg, a dealer of Native
American art and other objects, of Denver, Colorado at an unknown date.
It is unconfirmed if Lefthand was from the Northern or Southern
Arapaho, however, the Southern Arapaho were consulted on this object
and offered their support of the Northern Arapaho claim. The Denver Art
Museum then purchased the bundle from Kohlberg's Antiques in Denver in
1939. The parfleche bundle contains six smaller objects--five small
hide bags with unknown contents and one animal tail. The second
medicine bundle was purchased by MJ Kohlberg from Arapaho Chief Sharp
Nose at an unknown date. The Denver Art Museum then purchased the
object from Kohlberg's Antiques in Denver in 1941. The rawhide pouch
contains 14 smaller objects such as a braid of sweet grass, a dried
bulb, multiple hide medicine bags with unknown contents, and a bundle
of five leather ties. The Denver Art Museum's analysis of the records
of transactions, paired with traditional knowledge shared by the Tribe,
showed that the knowledge and use of these medicines could not be
freely obtained or created, but instead were passed down through
specific individuals within the community, therefore each of the above
bundles should not have been sold or alienated as they are communally
owned cultural items.
The two Tomahawk Lodge sticks, both made of wood and decorated with
quill and feathers, were obtained by Charles Burkhart from the Convent
of the Sisters of the Holy Child in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This convent was
established in 1884 and the sticks were apparently acquired by the
convent in that year and remained in the convent's collection until
1933, when they were put on the market. Charles Burkhart ``Eagle
Plume'' was a trading post
[[Page 44220]]
salesman who worked at, and later owned, the Perkins Trading Post in
Allenspark, Colorado. Burkhart bought the sticks in 1933 on behalf of
Perkins Trading Post, from whom the Denver Art Museum purchased the
sticks in 1941. Society organizations hold communal title to these
items, therefore they were considered inalienable at the time the
objects were separated from the group.
Determinations
The Denver Art Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The four objects of cultural patrimony described in this
notice have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance
central to the Native American group, including any constituent sub-
group (such as a band, clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other
subdivision), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of
an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
<bullet> There is a connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River
Reservation, Wyoming.
Requests for Repatriation
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items
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 items in this notice to a requestor
may occur on or after October 14, 2025. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the Denver Art Museum 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 Denver Art Museum 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: August 29, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-17618 Filed 9-11-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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