Notice

Notice of Intended Repatriation: Whitman College, Maxey Museum, Walla Walla, WA

A Notice by the National Park Service on 03/18/2026

• PDF

• Document Details

• Document Dates

• Table of Contents

- Related Documents

• Public Comments
• Regulations.gov Data

- Sharing

• Print
• Other Formats
• Public Inspection Published Document: 2026-05300 (91 FR 13063) Document Headings ###### Department of the Interior

National Park Service

1. N7008; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042363; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000 # AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Whitman College, Maxey Museum (WCMM) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and/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 April 17, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to Jeanine Gordon, Special Assistant to the President for Native American Outreach, Whitman College, 345 Boyer Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, email gordonj@whitman.edu.

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 WCMM, 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 19 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. The 12 unassociated funerary objects are copper bracelets. The seven sacred objects are two fan -shaped boards, a rectangular robe, a cedar stick with animals carved at each end, a bone hackler, a stone chisel, and a model of a baby and board.

All objects were donated by Mrs. Sarah Eels in 1907. They all date to pre-1900 and come from the Northwest Coast. The copper bracelets [WHIT-E-0406] were found in Sequim, Washington. The fan-shaped boards [WHIT-E-0194] have an accession record that dates them to 1751. The rectangular robe [WHIT-E-0496] was acquired around 1880 in Jamestown and exhibited by the State of Washington World's Fair Commission in 1893. The cedar stick [WHIT-E-0177] was Makah made but traded to Jamestown S'Klallam and used in tamanowas ceremonies. The stone chisel [WHIT-E-0266] is possibly pre-contact. The bone hackler [WHIT-E-0302] was found at Dungeness among the S'Klallam in 1896. The model baby and board [WHIT-E-0147] also has a tag stating it was exhibited in the 1893 World's Fair; the tag states it was obtained at Jamestown in 1896 from the S'Klallam but made by the Makah.

Determinations

The WCMM has determined that:

• The 12 unassociated funerary objects described in this notice are 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 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.
• The seven 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 Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe.

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 April 17, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the WCMM 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 WCMM 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.

Dated: March 11, 2026.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2026-05300 Filed 3-17-26; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4312-52-P

Published Document: 2026-05300 (91 FR 13063)