83 FR 32316 - Notice of Inventory Completion: St. Joseph Museums, Inc., St. Joseph, MO

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 134 (July 12, 2018)

The St. Joseph Museum has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a written request to the St. Joseph Museum. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 134 (Thursday, July 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32316-32317]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14901]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0025769; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: St. Joseph Museums, Inc., St. 
Joseph, MO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The St. Joseph Museum has completed an inventory of human 
remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of 
any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this 
notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains 
should submit a written request to the St. Joseph Museum. If no 
additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human 
remains to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian 
organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to

[[Page 32317]]

request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to the St. 
Joseph Museum at the address in this notice by August 13, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Trevor Tutt, Collections Manager, St. Joseph Museums, Inc., 
St. Joseph, MO 64506, telephone (816) 232-8471, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains under 
the control of the St. Joseph Museums, Inc., St. Joseph, MO. The human 
remains were removed from Kake, AK.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the St. 
Joseph Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Organized Village of Kake.

History and Description of the Remains

    Prior to 1910, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from Kake, AK. Subsequently, William H. Case 
transferred these human remains to Harry L. George, who, in turn 
donated them to the St. Joseph Museum. The human remains--a jaw bone--
belonged to a Medicine Man who had died and was buried in a grave 
house, in accordance with Native custom. When a sickness, attributed to 
evil spirits, fell upon the village the Medicine Man's bones were 
thrown in salt water. A white missionary from Kake was said to have 
retrieved the jaw bone from the Pacific Ocean several years later, 
accounting for the barnacles found on the teeth. As Russian 
missionaries first arrived in Kake in the 1790s, the retrieval of the 
jaw by a white missionary would have occurred between the 1790s and 
early 1910, when Case photographed it and sent the images to George. 
George had purchased the jawbone along with a series of ivory buttons 
and a jade axe head for $30.00 no later than July 14, 1911.
    The Harry George collection was originally meant to be donated to 
the St. Joseph Museum prior to George's death in 1923, but due to lack 
of storage space, it was on loan to the Missouri State Museum in 
Jefferson City until it transferred to the St. Joseph Museum in October 
1944. The bulk of the collection was stored in the basement of the St. 
Joseph City Hall while select items were displayed at the AJ August 
House, the second location of the St. Joseph Museum. After the St. 
Joseph Museum received the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion as their main display 
site in 1946, the vast majority of the items went on display there. 
That same year, funds were provided for the St. Joseph Museum to 
purchase the George Collection outright. The human remains in the 
collection have remained in storage since at least the 1970s. When the 
St. Joseph Museum, now the St. Joseph Museums, Inc., moved to the Glore 
Psychiatric Museum in 2004, much of the George Collection was moved as 
well, including the jaw bone. In 2017, it, and other human remains were 
returned to storage at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion for processing under 
NAGPRA.
    Research into the Harry George Collection, specifically the William 
H. Case photographs, began around 2017. Zachary Jones, Archivist at the 
Alaska State Archives, assisted in identifying objects in the 
collection and initiated consultation with the Organized Village of 
Kake. Frank Hughes, the NAGPRA Coordinator for the Organized Village of 
Kake, contacted Trevor Tutt, the Collections Manager for the St. Joseph 
Museums, Inc., and began correspondence related to items of cultural 
patrimony and remains related to Kake, Alaska. Through correspondence, 
the oral tradition of human remains being thrown in salt water in 
retaliation against a sickness in the village was confirmed. As 
research indicates that missionary activity in Kake peaked during the 
1890s-1910 period, the jaw might have been removed during that two 
decade span.

Determinations Made by the St. Joseph Museum

    Officials of the St. Joseph Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and the Organized Village of Kake.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Trevor 
Tutt, Collections Manager, St. Joseph Museums, Inc., St. Joseph, MO 
64506, telephone (816) 232-8471, email [email protected], by 
August 13, 2018. After that date, if no additional requestors have come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the Organized 
Village of Kake may proceed.
    The St. Joseph Museum is responsible for notifying the Organized 
Village of Kake that this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 12, 2018.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2018-14901 Filed 7-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P