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 Portland Art 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

In a letter dated February 5, 2026, the Tejon Indian Tribe submitted a claim for repatriation to the Portland Art Museum for two baskets (#91.95.26 and #2014.89.3) as “objects of cultural patrimony” under NAGPRA. The claimed cultural items are two Kawaiisu baskets with no known artist affiliation. According to museum records, both baskets were acquired by the Museum from private collector Elizabeth Cole Butler. Basket #91.95.26 was donated in 1991; basket #2014.89.3 was loaned to the museum in 1986, became a donation by bequest in 2004, and was accessioned into the permanent collection in 2014. No provenance information prior to Butler's donations has been located. They are described in museum records as follows:

• Basket #91.95.26, dated ca. 1850, is constructed with sumac, devil's claw, and yucca root. The basket was originally attributed to an unidentified Chumash maker until 2013, when it was updated to “Kawaiisu or from the Tejon Pass area (central California).” According to information provided by the claimant tribe, this basket is a visual representation of their ancestral land and traditional knowledge. It was created for communal and ceremonial purposes. ( printed page 48415)
• Basket #2014.89.3, dated ca. 1880, was created with willow, redbud, and bracken fern root on a grass foundation. Original paperwork listed the basket with the affiliation “Kern River,” and in 2014 the cultural term was updated to “Kawaiisu.” According to information provided by the claimant tribe, this basket illustrates lightning and thunder corresponding to their creation stories and ceremonial rain-making practices.

On June 2, 2026, baskets #91.95.26 and #2014.89.3 were tested for arsenic contamination and the results were negative for both items.

Determinations

The Portland Art Museum has determined that:

• 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.
• 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 August 31, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Portland Art 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 Portland Art 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.

91 FR 48414