Notice2026-02708
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA
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
February 11, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum 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 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6259-6260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02708]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6915; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041988; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Mount Holyoke College Art
Museum, South Hadley, MA
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 Mount Holyoke College Art Museum 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 March 13, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Abigail Hoover, Associate Director of
Registration and Collections, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Lower
Lake Road, South Hadley, MA 01075, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#67060f0808110215270a130f080b1e080c0249020312"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3f5e575050495a4d7f524b5750534650545a115a5b4a">[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
Mount Holyoke College 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 14 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The 14 sacred objects are one p[omacr]haku ku`i ai (poi pounder), one
lei niho palaoa (whale tooth pendant necklace), one lot of three pieces
of kapa (bark cloth), eight kapa (bark cloth), one hoe (carved paddle),
one lot of makaloa (reeds), and one kapa (bark cloth) book.
There is no available information for the acquisition history of
the p[omacr]haku ku[revaps]i ai (poi pounder), three pieces of kapa
(bark cloth), and the makaloa (reeds). One piece of kapa was donated by
Olive Beeman of South Hadley, MA. One piece of kapa was donated by Mrs.
Arthur E. Richardson of Springfield, MA. According to available
documentation, various cultural items were donated by individuals,
including Mary Ella Spooner Brown, Julia Brooks Spaulding, Persis
Thurston, and Dwight Baldwin, working as missionaries in the Hawaiian
Islands in the nineteenth century. The group of three kapa and one
piece of kapa are recorded as having belonged to Bernice Pauahi
P[amacr]k[imacr] Bishop, and one piece of kapa donated in 1857 is
recorded as having belonged to an unnamed ``Queen of the Sandwich
Islands.'' Most of the above cultural items were formally transferred
from the Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections to the
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in 2003. The book made of kapa is in
the collection of the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum at Mount Holyoke
College, but the source and date of acquisition of the book are
unknown. There are no available records indicating whether or not any
potentially hazardous substances were used to treat any of these
cultural items.
Determinations
The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The 14 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 Native Hawaiian organization.
<bullet> There is a connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and Hui Iwi Kuamo[revaps]o.
[[Page 6260]]
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 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 Native Hawaiian organization.
Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to a requestor
may occur on or after March 13, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the Mount Holyoke College 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 Mount Holyoke College
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: February 4, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-02708 Filed 2-10-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 11, 2026.
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