Notice of Intended Repatriation: Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Milwaukee Public Museum intends to repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the ...
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Milwaukee Public Museum 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 August 21, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item in this notice to Dawn Scher Thomae, Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W. Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI 53233, email
thomae@mpm.edu.
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 Milwaukee Public 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 one cultural item has been requested for repatriation. The one unassociated funerary object is a stone owl effigy pipe. It was “. . .found on the east bank of Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin on the Stockbridge Reservation. R.R. 3- 53 Chilton. Found by Harmon Stevens on his farm on lot as they call it while plowing in 1899.” It was obtained from Edw., R, Theby by George West in 1906 and donated to the Milwaukee Public Museum in 1913. No hazardous substances were used to treat this item.
Determinations
The Milwaukee Public 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 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 connection between the cultural item described in this notice and the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin.
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 August 21, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Milwaukee Public Museum 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 Milwaukee Public Museum is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
( printed page 46144)
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.