2024-29945. Notice of Intended Repatriation: The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN

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Department of the Interior

National Park Service

1. [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039216; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), The Children's Museum of Indianapolis intends to repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of an unassociated funerary object and that has a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

DATES:

Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or after January 17, 2025.

ADDRESSES:

Jennifer Noffze, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, 3000 N Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46208, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

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 Children's Museum of Indianapolis, 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 one cultural item has been requested for repatriation. The one unassociated funerary object is a red and brown stone animal effigy pipe. It was found in a mound near Marietta, Ohio, prior to 1900, and it was formerly a part of the Judge Claude U. Stone Collection at Peoria, Illinois. It was donated to the museum in 1968 by Earl Townsend, Jr. Marietta, Ohio is part of the ancestral homelands of the Shawnee Nation, which includes the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.

Determinations

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis has determined that:

• The one unassociated funerary object described in this notice is reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The unassociated funerary object has been identified by a preponderance of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
• There is a reasonable connection between the cultural item described in this notice and the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 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 item in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January 17, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural item are considered a single request and not competing requests. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis 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: December 11, 2024.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.