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 BMA, 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 five cultural items have been requested for repatriation. The one unassociated funerary object is a miniature totem pole carved of walrus ivory. The one object of cultural patrimony is a spoon. The three sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony are one harpoon head, one harpoon point, ( printed page 68550) and one spear point. The items were collected on unknown dates from unknown locations, possibly in the Arctic and Subarctic. The miniature totem pole was collected by Thyrza Hamilton Orr of Birmingham, Alabama on an unknown date before 1971. Orr gifted the item to the BMA in 1971. The miniature totem pole is documented in museum records as Inupiat or Tlingit or Haida. The spoon was collected by Dr. Noble Ashworth Endicott, Jr. and Dr. Wilma Jean Gunter Endicott sometime prior to 1991. The Endicotts donated the item to the BMA in 1991. The spoon is documented in museum records as Inupiat. The harpoon head, harpoon point, and spear point were collected by Axel Rasmussen, who served as superintendent of schools in Wrangell, Alaska from 1926 to 1938, and in Skagway from 1938 until his death in 1945. In 1948 the Portland Museum of Art purchased the entire Rasmussen Collection. BMA purchased the items in 1956. The three items are documented in museum records as Inupiat.

BMA has no knowledge of any potentially hazardous substances used to treat the cultural items. However, no testing has occurred.

Determinations

The BMA 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.
• The one object of cultural patrimony described in this notice has 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.
• The three sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony described in this notice are, according to the Native American traditional knowledge of an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization, specific ceremonial objects needed by a traditional Native American religious leader for present-day adherents to practice traditional Native American religion, and 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).
• There is a connection between the cultural items described in this notice and the Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government.

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 BMA 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 BMA 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 68549