[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 193 (Thursday, October 4, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 50676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24934]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession 
of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 
Cambridge, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 
10.10(a)(3), of the intent to repatriate cultural items in the 
possession of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard 
University, Cambridge, MA, that meet the definition of ``unassociated 
funerary objects'' under Section 2 of the Act.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2(c). The 
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of these 
cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    The 32 cultural items are 11 quartz fragments, 19 strands of glass 
and shell beads, and 2 shell ornaments.
    In 1877, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology acquired 30 
cultural items that had been collected during a joint expedition of the 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and the Smithsonian 
Institution to the Channel Islands, CA. Museum records indicate that 
these cultural items were collected by Steven Bowers from graves at 
unknown sites on San Miguel Island, CA. The Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology is not in possession of the human remains 
from these burials.
    In 1877, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology acquired two 
cultural items that had been collected during a joint expedition of the 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and the Smithsonian 
Institution to the Channel Islands, CA. Museum records indicate that 
these cultural items were collected by Steven Bowers from graves at 
unknown sites on Santa Rosa Island, CA. The Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology is not in possession of the human remains 
from these burials.
    Archeological investigations have identified a cultural continuity 
for the Chumash Indians that traces their presence on the northern 
Channel Islands back 7,000 to 9,000 years. Geographical, archeological, 
and oral history evidence indicate a shared group identity between the 
cultural items from San Miguel Island and Santa Cruz Island, CA, and 
the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California, the present-day tribe most closely associated 
with the prehistoric and historic Chumash Indians.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology have determined that, pursuant to 
43 CFR 10.2(d)(2)(ii), these 32 cultural items are reasonably believed 
to have been placed with or near individual human remains at the time 
of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony, and are 
believed, by a preponderance of evidence, to have been removed from 
specific burial sites of Native American individuals. Officials of the 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology also have determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2(e), there is a relationship of shared group 
identity that can be reasonably traced between these unassociated 
funerary objects and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of 
the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Santa Ynez Band of 
Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these unassociated funerary objects should 
contact Barbara Isaac, Repatriation Coordinator, Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, 
telephone (617) 495-2254, before November 5, 2001. Repatriation of 
these unassociated funerary objects to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash 
Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California may begin 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: June 14, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-24934 Filed 10-3-01 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F