Notice of Intended Repatriation: Field Museum, Chicago, IL

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Page 20481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07389]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N7087; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042608; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: Field Museum, Chicago, IL

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 Field Museum 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 May 18, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the 
cultural items in this notice to June Carpenter, Field Museum, 1400 S 
Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, email jcarpenter@fieldmuseum.org.

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 
Field 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 41 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
    The one unassociated funerary object is a basket. The six sacred 
objects are a mortar, a pestle, tobacco, angelica root, snuff and salt 
grass, and medicine. The 34 objects of cultural patrimony are 19 
baskets, a brush, an arrow plane, a necklace, a gorget, a pair of 
moccasins, a bow, a lot of arrows, a mortar, a mortar and pestle, two 
pestles, a pipe, two lots of stone tools, and tobacco. In early 1901, 
the cultural items were removed from Kern County in California. The 
items were collected by Dr. John Hudson on behalf of the Field Museum 
during a two-year expedition among the Native populations of California 
and accessioned by the Museum later in 1901.

Determinations

    The Field Museum 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 is 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.
    •  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.
    •  The 34 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.
    •  There is a connection between the cultural items described 
in this notice and the Tejon Indian Tribe.

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 May 18, 2026. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Field 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 Field 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: April 8, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-07389 Filed 4-15-26; 8:45 am]
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