Notice2026-00865
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, KS
Primary source
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Published
January 16, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of sacred objects 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 91 Issue 11 (Friday, January 16, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 11 (Friday, January 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Page 2148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00865]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6874; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041864; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Kansas State Historical Society,
Topeka, KS
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 Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS)
intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition
of sacred objects 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 February 17, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Dr. Nicole Klarmann, Kansas State
Historical Society, 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#85eef6edf6abebe4e2f5f7e4c5eef6abe2eaf3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="701b0318035e1e1117000211301b035e171f06">[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
KSHS 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 eight cultural items have been requested for
repatriation. The eight sacred objects are a beaded pouch, bags, and
jar, a whistle, leg cuffs, hair pipes, and an eagle feather. The beaded
pouch (1962.34.12) and the beaded jar (1962.34.52) were transferred
from the KSHS museum collections to the archeological collections in
1962. No other provenience information is available. The beaded saddle
bag (1973.120.10) was donated to KSHS in 1973 by a resident from Clyde,
KS who was asked to clean out an elderly person's garage and found many
Native American items. The buckskin bag with quillwork (1934.9.18) was
donated to KSHS in 1934 with no other provenience information. The
eagle bone whistle (1990.G.1) was purchased at an antique shop in
Colorado in the 1960s and donated to KSHS in 1990. Duso cement was used
to re-glue two sections of the whistle. The quilled leg cuffs
(1959.66.3 A-B) were donated to KSHS in 1959 with no other provenience
information. The bone and brass hair pipes (1956.32.26) were purchased
by KSHS from the Logan Museum at Beloit College in Wisconsin in 1956.
The eagle feather (1976.52.01A) was donated by a former KSHS museum
director in 1976 and described as part of a Siouan affiliated hairpiece
from circa 1890. Unless noted here, we have no known knowledge of
hazardous substances being used to treat any of these cultural items.
Determinations
The KSHS has determined that:
<bullet> The eight sacred objects described in this notice are
specific ceremonial objects 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 connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck
Indian Reservation, Montana.
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 February 17, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the KSHS 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 KSHS 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: January 9, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-00865 Filed 1-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 16, 2026.
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