Notice2025-22905
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields, Indianapolis, IN
Primary source
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Published
December 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields 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 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 58274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22905]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6639; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041361; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc.
D.B.A. Newfields, Indianapolis, IN
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 Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A.
Newfields 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 January 15, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Jennifer Gallatin Rigsby, Indianapolis
Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields, 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis,
IN 46208-3326, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#741e061d1307160d34101d07171b0211061a1103121d111810075a1b0613"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bfd5cdd6d8ccddc6ffdbd6ccdcd0c9dacdd1dac8d9d6dad3dbcc91d0cdd8">[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
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields, 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 19 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The 19 objects of cultural patrimony are six abalone pendants and 13
projectile points. The six abalone pendants were taken from a burial
mound on the Sacramento River near Sacramento, California, by C.P.
Smith of Sacramento prior to 1900. From Mr. Smith it passed to C.W.
Fair of Davenport, Iowa from whom Earl Townsend Jr. obtained it on July
16, 1954. Earl Townsend Jr. gave the pendants to the John Herron Art
Institute, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 1962.
The 13 projectile points are all from California and were purchased in
San Francisco in 1928 by Dr. Byron W. Marshall of Nashville, Indiana
and were in the Brown County, Indian Museum until 1951 when Earl
Townsend Jr. purchased the museum. Earl Townsend Jr. gave the pendants
to the John Herron Art Institute, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at
Newfields, in 1964.
Determinations
The Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields has
determined that:
<bullet> The 19 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 Wilton Rancheria, California.
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 January 15, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A.
Newfields 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
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Inc. D.B.A. Newfields 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: November 19, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-22905 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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