[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 61 (Monday, March 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18059-18060]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07145]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-15182; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Massachusetts 
Amherst, Department of Anthropology, Amherst, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of 
Anthropology, has completed an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate 
Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that 
there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any 
Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this 
notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains 
and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the 
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology. If no 
additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, 
Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice 
may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, 
Department of Anthropology, at the address in this notice by April 30, 
2014.

ADDRESSES: Rae Gould, Repatriation Coordinator, University of 
Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology, 215 Machmer Hall, 
240 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003, telephone (413) 545-2702, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the University of 
Massachusetts Amherst,

[[Page 18060]]

Department of Anthropology. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from the Miacomet Burial Ground, Nantucket, MA.
    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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation, representing the Mashpee 
Wampanoag Tribe (previously listed as the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian 
Council, Inc.); Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah); and the Assonet 
Band of the Wampanoag Nation, a non-Federally recognized Indian group.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1988, University of Massachusetts (UMass) Archaeological 
Services assisted with the delineation and partial excavation of the 
Miacomet Burial Ground, Nantucket, MA, following the disturbance of 
burials at the site as part of a development project for the Nantucket 
Housing Authority. UMass Archaeological Services was employed to 
determine the boundaries of the burial ground and conducted subsurface 
testing and excavation, including the excavation of two burials. 
Although excavation of the burials left two individuals in situ, some 
items were recovered from the site, including soil samples from the 
burials containing human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual, and have remained at UMass Archaeological Services in 
Amherst, MA. No known individuals were identified. A total of 22 
associated funerary objects are present: 1 lot quahog shell, 1 lot 
oyster shell, 1 lot animal bone pieces, 1 lot historic glass pieces, 1 
lot of ceramic shards, 1 lot of metal pieces, 1 lot of coffin nails and 
coffin wood pieces, 3 brass pin pieces, 2 brass buttons, 3 ceramic pipe 
pieces, 1 piece brick, 1 lot lithic flakes, 3 projectile points, 1 
projectile point tip, and 1 partial groundstone artifact.
    The Miacomet Burial Ground is documented to have existed in the 
early Contact period, and used extensively in the early 17th-century in 
particular. Ethnohistoric documents--including European colonial maps, 
written documents and missionary accounts--and Wampanoag oral history, 
indicate that the Wampanoag people and their allies, through marriage 
and war pacts (e.g. 1675 King Phillip's War), were occupants of 
Massachusetts and Rhode Island at the time of contact and European 
colonization. Wampanoag oral history also indicates a maintained, long-
term occupation of the region. The present-day Indian tribes and group 
most closely affiliated with members of the Wampanoag Nation are the 
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (previously listed as the Mashpee Wampanoag 
Indian Council, Inc.); Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah); and the 
Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, a non-Federally recognized Indian 
group.

Determinations Made by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, 
Department of Anthropology

    Officials of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of 
Anthropology, have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of a minimum of one 
individual of Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 22 objects described 
in this notice 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.
     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 associated funerary objects to the Wampanoag 
Repatriation Confederation, representing the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe 
(previously listed as the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Council, Inc.); 
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah); and the Assonet Band of the 
Wampanoag Nation, a non-Federally recognized Indian group.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Rae Gould, Repatriation Coordinator, 
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology, 215 
Machmer Hall, 240 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003, telephone (413) 545-
2702, email [email protected], by April 30, 2014. After that 
date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation, representing the Mashpee 
Wampanoag Tribe (previously listed as the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian 
Council, Inc.); Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah); and the Assonet 
Band of the Wampanoag Nation, a non-Federally recognized Indian group, 
may proceed.
    The University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Anthropology 
is responsible for notifying the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (previously 
listed as the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Council, Inc.); Wampanoag Tribe 
of Gay Head (Aquinnah); and the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, a 
non-Federally recognized Indian group that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: March 4, 2014.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-07145 Filed 3-28-14; 8:45 am]
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