[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 204 (Wednesday, October 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60413-60414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-26580]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Peabody Essex 
Museum, Salem, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Peabody Essex 
Museum, Salem, MA, that meet the definitions of sacred objects and 
cultural patrimony under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of 
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the 
cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    The 20 cultural items are 2 masks, 2 cornhusk masks, 3 miniature 
masks, 4 feather wands, 2 turtle rattles, 2 gourd rattles, 2 wooden 
forks, 1 drum stick, 1 water drum and stick, and 1 wampum message 
stick.
    In December 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum received a mask 
(Accession E24970) that Ernest Dodge had purchased in October 1944. 
Museum records indicate that the mask was collected from the Six 
Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada.
    In 1949, the Peabody Essex Museum received a mask (Accession 
E27945) as an exchange with Dr. Frank G. Speck. Museum records indicate 
that the mask was collected from the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, 
Canada.
    In December 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum received a cornhusk mask 
(Accession E24971) that Ernest Dodge had purchased in October 1944. 
Museum records indicate that the mask was collected from the Six 
Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada.
    On August 22, 1946, the Peabody Essex Museum purchased a cornhusk 
mask (Accession E26299) from Dr. Frank G. Speck. Museum records 
indicate that the mask was collected from the Six Nations Reserve, 
Ontario, Canada.
    On December 28, 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum purchased three 
miniature masks (Accessions E25197, E25198, and E25199) from Dr. Frank 
G. Speck, who had collected the masks in or about 1932 from the Six 
Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada.
    On December 28, 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum received three 
feather wands (Accession E25205) from Dr. Frank G. Speck, who had 
collected the wands at an unknown date from the Six Nations Reserve, 
Ontario, Canada.
    On September 8, 1948, the Peabody Essex Museum received a feather 
wand (Accession E27760) from Dr. Frank G. Speck, who had collected the 
wand at an unknown date from the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada.
    On December 28, 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum purchased a turtle 
rattle (Accession E25206) from Dr. Frank G. Speck, who had obtained the 
rattle in or about 1933 from the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada.
    In December 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum received a turtle rattle 
(Accession E24972) that Ernest S. Dodge had purchased in October 1944. 
Museum records indicate that the rattle was collected from the Six 
Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada.
    On December 22, 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum received a gourd 
rattle (Accession E24984)
    that Ernest S. Dodge had purchased in October 1944. Museum records 
indicate that the rattle was collected from the Six Nations Reserve, 
Ontario, Canada.
    On May 10, 1961, the Peabody Essex Museum received a gourd rattle 
(Accession E37486) as a gift from Mrs. Sterling H. Pool. Records of the 
donor note that the origin of the rattle is ``Cayuga, Can.
    On December 28, 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum purchased two wooden 
forks (Accession E25203) from Dr. Frank G. Speck, who had obtained the 
forks in 1935 from the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada.
    On December 28, 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum purchased a drum 
stick (Accession E25217) from Dr. Frank G. Speck, who had obtained the 
drum stick on an unknown date from the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, 
Canada.
    At an unknown date, the Peabody Essex Museum purchased a water drum 
and stick (Accession E25216) from Dr. Frank G. Speck, who had obtained 
the drum and stick in 1945 from the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, 
Canada.
    Evidence presented during consultation by representatives of the 
Cayuga Nation of New York and museum documentation indicate that the 
cultural items are specific ceremonial objects needed by traditional 
Native American religious leaders for the practice of traditional 
Native American religions by their present-day adherents.
    The Cayuga people have, over time, moved, and today live in three 
main areas: in and around Versailles, NY; at the Six Nations Reserve in 
Ontario, Canada; and at the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma. The 
Cayuga Nation of New York has informed the Peabody Essex Museum that 
the tribe may act on behalf of the Cayuga community of Canada in this 
matter.
    Officials of the Peabody Essex Museum have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the 19 cultural items described 
above are specific ceremonial objects needed by traditional Native 
American religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native 
American religions by their present-day adherents. Officials of the 
Peabody Essex Museum also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 
3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be 
reasonably traced between the sacred objects and the Cayuga Nation of 
New York.

[[Page 60414]]

    On December 28, 1944, the Peabody Essex Museum (then the Peabody 
Museum) purchased a wampum message stick (Accession E25262) from Dr. 
Frank G. Speck, who had obtained the message stick in 1945 from the Six 
Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada. The item consists of a small wooden 
stick to which are attached four shell wampum beads and a piece of red 
ribbon. Museum records indicate that the object is Cayuga.
    Evidence presented during consultation by representatives of the 
Cayuga Nation of New York and museum documentation indicate that the 
cultural item has ongoing historical, traditional, and cultural 
importance central to the tribe itself, and could not have been 
alienated by any individual tribal member.
    The Cayuga people have, over time, moved, and today live in three 
main areas: in and around Versailles, NY; at the Six Nations Reserve in 
Ontario, Canada; and at the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma. The 
Cayuga Nation of New York has informed the Peabody Essex Museum that 
the tribe may act on behalf of the Cayuga community of Canada in this 
matter.
    Officials of the Peabody Essex Museum have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), the one cultural item described 
above has ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance 
central to the Native American group or culture itself, rather than 
property owned by an individual, and could not have been alientaed, 
appropriated, or conveyed by any individual. Officials of the Peabody 
Essex Museum also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), 
there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably 
traced between the object of cultural patrimony and the Cayuga Nation 
of New York.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the sacred objects or object of cultural 
patrimony should contact John R. Grimes, Curator of Native American Art 
and Culture, Peabody Essex Museum, East India Square, Salem, MA 01970, 
telephone (978) 745-9500, before November 21, 2003. Repatriation of the 
sacred objects and object of cultural patrimony to the Cayuga Nation of 
New York may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The Peabody Essex Museum is responsible for notifying the Cayuga 
Nation of New York and Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma that this notice 
has been published.

    Dated: August 27, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-26580 Filed 10-21-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S