[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 87 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21390-21391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10547]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Warren Anatomical Museum, Harvard 
University, Boston, 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. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains in the possession and 
control of Warren Anatomical Museum, Harvard University, Boston, MA. 
The human remains were removed from the Island of Oahu, HI.
    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 Native 
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and Warren Anatomical Museum 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Hawaii 
Island Burial Council, Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, Oahu 
Island Burial Council, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
    In 1843, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from Oahu Island, HI, by J. H. Lyman. The human remains 
were presented to the Anatomical Museum of the Boston Society for 
Medical Improvement on an unknown date before 1847. The Anatomical 
Museum of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement transferred its 
collection to the Warren Anatomical Museum in 1871. No known individual 
was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Osteological characteristics indicate that the human remains are 
Native American. Museum documentation states that the human remains 
were recovered from a cave in a ``volcanic mountain'' on the eastern 
end of the Island of Oahu in the ``Sandwich Islands.'' ``Sandwich 
Islands'' is an antiquated term used to describe the islands of Hawaii. 
Anthropological and historic information indicates that cave interments 
are consistent with traditional Native Hawaiian mortuary practices. 
Archeological and historic documentation combined with oral traditions 
support that the human remains are from an area considered to be part 
of the aboriginal homelands of ancestral Native Hawaiians. Present-day 
groups that represent Native Hawaiians for the Island of Oahu are Hui 
Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, Oahu Island Burial Council, and the 
Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
    Officials of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and 
Warren Anatomical Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 
3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent the physical 
remains of one individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and Warren Anatomical 
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 Native American human remains and Hui Malama I Na 
Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, Oahu Island Burial Council, and the Office of 
Hawaiian Affairs.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian 
Organization that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the 
human remains should contact Patricia Capone, Repatriation Coordinator, 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 
Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 496-3702, before 
June 8, 2009. Repatriation of the human remains to Hui Malama I Na 
Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, Oahu Island Burial Council, and the Office of 
Hawaiian Affairs may proceed after that date if no additional claimants 
come forward.
    The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and Warren 
Anatomical Museum are responsible for notifying the Hawaii Island 
Burial Council, Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, Oahu Island 
Burial Council, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs that this notice has 
been published.


[[Page 21391]]


    Dated: April 28, 2009.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-10547 Filed 5-6-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S