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 161 cultural items has been requested for repatriation. The 161 sacred objects include stone images, a whale tooth necklace, a whale tooth pendant, kapa cloths, kapa markers, kapa beaters, poi pounders, model canoes, bowls, bowl carrying nets, cups, platters, lamps, wrist ornaments, bracelets, shell necklaces, a fish hook, stone net weights, slingstones, bowling stones, adzes, scrapers, a celt, a stirrup pounders, hammerstone, fans, rope, musical bows, smoking pipes, a club, pillows, a mat, a basket, a burnishing stone, a skirt, a gourd rattle, a mirror, a ritual cuspidor, a head ornament, and a fossil coral. The items were collected by various individuals during the 19th and 20th centuries and came to the Milwaukee Public Museum through donation and purchase between the years 1889 and 1982. Of the 161 items, 114 of these items were donated to the Milwaukee Public Museum by George E. Copeland of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1922.

All of the items note “Hawaii” as the provenience except for the following items: two game stones from the island of Oahu; two poi bowls and a kapa from the island of Hawai'i; one poi pounder from the island of Molokai; two stirrup pounders and a shell necklace from the island of Kaua'i. There are nine kapa (bark cloth) with a recorded provenience of “South Sea Islands” and one kapa (bark cloth) with no provenience but were identified through consultation as being from Hawai'i.

The Milwaukee Public Museum has no specific information about the above items being treated with pesticides or preservatives that may represent a potential hazard. However, we do know that some items in the museum collection, mainly clothing and other textiles, were treated with chemicals by our museum in the first part of the 20th century.

Determinations

The Milwaukee Public Museum has determined that:

• The 161 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 ( printed page 57368) knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization.
• There is a connection between the cultural items described in this notice and the Hui Iwi Kuamo'o.

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 October 9, 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 items 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 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 57367