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 BPBM 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 nine cultural items, identified as Honoko'a Gulch items “Lots 1-9,” have been requested for repatriation by the Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice. The nine unassociated funerary objects include carved ki'i (stick images), 'ipu 'aina (refuse bowls), nae (feather cape fragment), ki'i wahine (carved female figure), hair helmet/wig, and a boar tusk bracelet. These items were collected by David Forbes, Friedrich Haenisch, and William Wagner in 1905 from the Honoko'a Gulch Cave Complex, in an area known as Forbes Cave, in Kawaihae, Hawai'i Island, and received by BPBM in 1907.

Determinations

The BPBM has determined that:

• The nine unassociated funerary objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed with or near human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American culture. The unassociated funerary objects have 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 items described in this notice and the Mary Kawena Pukui Cultural Preservation Society; the 'Ohana Diamond; the 'Ohana Kekumano; the 'Ohana Keohokālole; the 'Ohana Olds; and the Temple of Lono (collectively, the Pukui Society Group) and Aloha 'Āina o Hawai'i, Inc.
• The Mary Kawena Pukui Cultural Preservation Society; the 'Ohana Diamond; the 'Ohana Kekumano; the 'Ohana Keohokālole; the 'Ohana Olds; and the Temple of Lono (collectively, the Pukui Society Group) have the closest cultural affiliation and are the most appropriate requestors for these unassociated funerary objects.

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 November 30, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the BPBM 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 BPBM is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the 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 68553