[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9154-9155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2480]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: The Trustees of 
Reservations, Beverly, 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 a cultural item in the possession of The Trustees of 
Reservations, Beverly, MA, that meets the definition of ``object of 
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 in 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 in this notice.
    The one cultural item is a four-piece pewter communion set. The 
pieces are one flagon (circa 1825-1854), made by Thomas Danforth 
Boardman, Hartford, CT (MH.A.E.1); one goblet (circa 1825-1854), made 
by Sherman Boardman and Thomas Danforth Boardman (MH.A.E.2); one goblet 
(circa 1820-1850), by an unknown maker (MH.A.E.3); and one charger 
(circa 1758-1788) possibly made by Joseph Danforth, Middletown, CT 
(MH.A.E.4).
    In the 1730s, the Stockbridge Mohicans, now the Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin, accepted the Reverend John Sergeant as a 
Christian missionary in Stockbridge, MA. This communion set was 
acquired by the tribe's mission church in the early 1800s, when they 
were living in upstate New York. Around 1911, the communion set was 
placed in the care of the church by Elder Jamison (Soat) Quinney, for 
many years the caretaker for objects on behalf of the Stockbridge 
Munsee Community.
    In 1930, Miss Mabel Choate, working through an agent, purchased the 
communion set, along with a two-volume Bible (returned to the 
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin in 1991), from the John 
Sergeant Memorial Presbyterian Church in Red Springs, WI., for display 
at the Mission House Museum in Stockbridge, MA. In 1948, Miss Choate 
donated the Mission House complete with all its contents, including the 
communion set, to The Trustees of Reservations.
    The cultural item's cultural affiliation with the Stockbridge 
Munsee Community is established through records held in the archives of 
the Mission House. Consultation with representatives of the Stockbridge 
Munsee Community confirmed that no single member nor a group of members 
of the John Sergeant Memorial Presbyterian Church had the right to sell 
cultural items owned by the community. The communion set was an 
integral part of the mission church begun in the 1730s in western 
Massachusetts and continues to have ongoing historical, traditional, 
and cultural importance central to the Stockbridge Munsee Community, 
Wisconsin.
    Officials of The Trustees of Reservations have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), the cultural item described above 
has an ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance central 
to the

[[Page 9155]]

Native American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by 
an individual. Officials of The Trustees of Reservations 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 Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the object of cultural patrimony should 
contact Will Garrison, Historic Resources Manager, The Trustees of 
Reservations, PO Box 792, Stockbridge, MA 01262, telephone (413) 298-
8123, before March 24, 2006. Repatriation of the object of cultural 
patrimony to the Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Trustees of Reservations is responsible for notifying the 
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: February 2, 2006.
C. Timothy McKeown,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-2480 Filed 2-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S