Notice2026-05376
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA
Primary source
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Published
March 19, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and/or 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 91 Issue 53 (Thursday, March 19, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 53 (Thursday, March 19, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Page 13330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-05376]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6997; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042351; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
Boston, 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 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston intends to
repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of
unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and/or 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 April 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Victoria Reed, Bettina Burr Chair for
Provenance, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston,
MA 02115, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7a0c081f1f1e3a171c1b5415081d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7e080c1b1b1a3e13181f50110c19">[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
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 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 six sacred objects include one war bonnet, two pairs
of moccasins (four moccasins total) and three pairs of leggings (six
leggings total). The two objects of cultural patrimony are eagle
whistles. The moccasins were given to the MFA by collectors Sarah
Spooner and Denman Waldo Ross in 1893 and 1902, respectively, and have
been catalogued as Sioux. The leggings were gifts of Ross in 1902 and
were likewise catalogued as Sioux. No earlier collecting history for
these items is available. The war bonnet was given to the MFA by Gretel
Anspach in 2003 and catalogued as Plains. It had been acquired by the
donor's family from a New York dealer or collector, and its provenance
before the 1960s is not known. The eagle whistles were purchased by the
MFA in 1984 and catalogued as Great Plains. They were said to come from
sources in New England but otherwise have no documented ownership
history.
Determinations
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has determined that:
<bullet> The six 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> The two 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 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 April 20, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 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 Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston 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: March 11, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-05376 Filed 3-18-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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