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 Eiteljorg 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 object of cultural patrimony is one Tenskwatawa Prayer Stick. Tenskwatawa, also known as The Shawnee Prophet, and the brother of Tecumseh, was removed with the Shawnee Tribe to the Shawnee Reservation in Kansas, where he resided until his death in 1836. Tenskwatawa is buried in Kansas on the Shawnee reservation. Today, the Shawnee hold the legal title to the property where he was reportedly laid to rest. It was recorded that Tenskwatawa made several of these prayer sticks to hand out to the holders of the war bundles with the Winnebago in 1805 at the Prophet Town near Greenville, Ohio. Documentation regarding the removal and/or subsequent transfers prior to being donated to the Eiteljorg Museum's collection is scarce.

According to museum records, the incised wood prophet stick is a carved wooden invitation stick with a pointed tip possibly made by Tenskwatawa. Different incised shapes fill the front surface. An unbleached cotton or linen storage sleeve provided by the donor accompanies the stick. The Dimensions: 15 1/4 × 1 3/4 × 1/2 in. (38.7 × 4.4 × 1.3 cm). Storage sleeve: 21 1/2 × 2 1/4 × 1/2 in. (54.6 × 5.7 × 1.3 cm). Also, according to museum records the carved wooden invitation or prophet stick was originally in the Loren Herrington Collection, Royal Oak, Michigan; Richard Pohrt Jr., Ann Arbor, Michigan acquired the stick from Loren Herrington and donated March 19, 2019, to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. The carved wooden invitation stick was never formally accession into the collection and has been in their care as a temporary hold labeled TH.2019.7.14 since March 19, 2019.

During consultation with representatives of the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma Business Council which included Shawnee citizen and Business Council Member Malichi Sears who is a lineal descendant and the 5-x great grandson of Tenswatawa along with Shawnee Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Tonya Tipton Central Council identified the carved wooden invitation stick as a Tenskwatawa Prayer Stick and an object of cultural patrimony.

Determinations

The Eiteljorg Museum has determined that:

• 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.
• There is a connection between the cultural item described in this notice and the Shawnee Tribe.

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 ( printed page 72904) 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 December 14, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Eiteljorg 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 Eiteljorg 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 72903