Notice of Intended Repatriation: Boston Children's Museum, Boston, MA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Boston Children's Museum intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of sacred objects or objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

DATES:

Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on or after June 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Melissa Higgins, Boston Children's Museum, 308 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210, telephone (617) 986-3692, email higgins@bostonchildrensmuseum.org.

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 Boston Children's 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 106 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. The 29 sacred objects are masks, rattles, and a cane. The 77 objects of cultural patrimony are games, dolls, household objects, decorative ornamentations and beadwork, pouches, moccasins, baskets, bottles, and instruments. All of these items have cultural associations with nations that are a part of Onondaga nation, including Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, Iroquois, Mohawk, and Oneida. No potentially hazardous substances are known to have been used to treat any of these items.

Determinations

Boston Children's Museum has determined that:

• The 29 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 knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization.
• The 77 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 reasonable connection between the cultural items described in this notice and Onondaga Nation.

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 June 20, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, Boston Children's 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. Boston Children's 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.