[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 207 (Wednesday, October 28, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55579-55580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-25968]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, 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 an associated funerary object in the 
possession of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard 
University, Cambridge, MA. The associated funerary object was removed 
from southeast Alaska.
    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 associated funerary objects. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the associated funerary object was made by 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of Central Council Tlingit & Haida 
Indian Tribes, Kootznoowoo Inc., Sealaska Corporation, Sitka Tribe of 
Alaska, and Yakutat Tlingit Tribe.
    On an unknown date before July 1868, one associated funerary object 
(69-30-10/2182) was recovered from an unknown area in southeast Alaska. 
It was purchased by the Peabody Museum from Edward G. Fast in 1869. The 
associated funerary object is a carved wooden box used to contain 
cremated human remains.
    Edward Fast's catalogue describes this item as a box ``used for 
receiving the ashes of the dead.'' The Peabody Museum is not in 
possession of the human remains. The totality of the evidence indicates 
that this item came from Tlingit territory in the area of southeast 
Alaska. Edward Fast wrote that he collected all of the items listed in 
his catalogue from ``that portion of the [Alaskan] territory south of 
Mount St. Elias'' while he was stationed in Sitka, AK, between October 
1867 and July 1868. However, additional historical sources indicate 
that a portion of Fast's collection came from the Russian American 
Company's museum and was collected by the Russian scholar I.G. 
Voznesenskii.
    Museum documentation, combined with other sources, indicates that 
this item was likely recovered from a grave context. This item most 
likely dates to the Historic period, specifically to the 19th Century. 
Anthropological and historic information indicate that the area south 
of Mount St. Elias in the state of Alaska is within the traditional and 
historic territory of the Tlingit people. Present-day Tlingit people 
are represented by Sealaska Corporation, a Native corporation 
representing Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples within the 
southeastern part of Alaska.
    Officials of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the one object 
described above is reasonably believed to have been exclusively made 
for burial purposes or to contain human remains. Officials of the 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 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 associated funerary 
object and the Tlingit, represented by Sealaska Corporation.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with this associated funerary object should 
contact Patricia Capone, Repatriation Coordinator, Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 496-
3702, before November 27, 2009. Repatriation of the associated funerary 
object to Sealaska Corporation may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is responsible for 
notifying the Central Council Tlingit

[[Page 55580]]

and Haida Indian Tribes, Kootznoowoo Inc., Sealaska Corporation, Sitka 
Tribe of Alaska, and Yakutat Tlingit Tribe that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: October 8, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-25968 Filed 10-27-09; 8:45 am]
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