[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 200 (Thursday, October 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62197-62198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24518]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-16769; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Robert S. Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology 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 Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology. 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 Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology 
at the address in this notice by November 17, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Ryan J. Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology, Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, 
telephone (978) 749-4490, email [email protected].

[[Page 62198]]


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 Robert S. Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA. The human remains 
and associated funerary objects were removed from McCain's site at 
Mattawamkeag in Penobscot County, ME.
    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 and associated funerary 
objects was made by the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Aroostook Band of Micmacs (previously listed as the Aroostook Band of 
Micmac Indians); Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians; Passamaquoddy Tribe; 
and the Penobscot Nation (previously listed as the Penobscot Tribe of 
Maine).

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1912, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from McCain's site in Mattawamkeag, Penobscot County, ME. 
McCain's site is located at the confluence of the Mattawamkeag and 
Penobscot Rivers, on the northeastern side of the two rivers. The site 
was investigated by Warren K. Moorehead as part of his extensive study 
of archeological sites in Maine; the human remains and associated 
funerary objects have been curated at the Robert S. Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology since their discovery by Moorehead's survey. The 
fragmentary remains of three individuals--one adult, one subadult, and 
one juvenile to subadult--were identified. The human remains consist of 
calcined cranial and long bone fragments. No known individuals were 
identified. The 14 associated funerary objects are 8 lithic flakes, 3 
pebbles, 1 animal tooth (cervid), and 2 animal bone fragments (cervid).
    Information about McCain's site is found in Moorehead's A Report on 
the Archaeology of Maine (1922), in the fieldnotes of F.B. Manning from 
the survey on file at the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, and 
in the files of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, Maine 
Archaeological Survey (site #123.6). The written sources on the site 
describe test excavations in a number of sites located at the juncture 
of the two rivers, including the discovery of Native American burials 
and habitation sites, at least some of which date to the period of 
European contact. F.B. Manning's fieldnotes attribute some of the 
burials discovered at Mattawamkeag to the ``red ochre people,'' likely 
a reference to what is now called the Moorehead Burial Tradition; 
Moorehead, however, discounts that any of the discoveries at 
Mattawamkeag were ``Red Paint'' cemeteries. Cremation burials are 
described by archeologists as characteristic of the Susquehanna 
Tradition, circa 3700 to 3000 BP in Maine. Specific descriptions of the 
burials described here are not found in the written sources on the 
site, though it seems likely that they date to the Late Archaic.
    Oral history narratives that place the origins of the Penobscot, 
Passamaquoddy, and Maliseet in Maine are often tied to specific places, 
landscape features, and ecological zones characteristic of Maine. These 
oral history narratives are significant in affiliating the Penobscot, 
Passamaquoddy, and Maliseet with the McCain's site, especially as 
archeological evidence is equivocal regarding connections. Mattawamkeag 
is significant to the Wabanaki, and figures in the seventeenth through 
nineteenth century histories of the tribes, as supported by oral 
narrative, archeological evidence, and written documents. Continuous 
occupation and reoccupation of places, like Mattawamkeag, along with 
the significance of place-names, canoe and trail routes, and landscape 
features reaffirm Wabanaki connections and may reflect more ancient 
traditions of aggregation in certain places. Continuity between ancient 
and contemporary indigenous people is supported by the long temporal 
occupation of the Mattawamkeag area during Archaic, Woodland and more 
recent times. The use of red ochre in graves, well-known in the Late 
Archaic Maine cemeteries, continues to be significant to contemporary 
Wabanaki people. Anthropological perspectives regarding affiliation of 
the Wabanaki peoples with the cultures of the Late Archaic are 
consistent with the contemporary viewpoint of the Wabanaki.

Determinations Made by the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology

    Officials of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of three individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 14 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 and the 
Aroostook Band of Micmacs (previously listed as the Aroostook Band of 
Micmac Indians); Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians; Passamaquoddy Tribe; 
and the Penobscot Nation (previously listed as the Penobscot Tribe of 
Maine).

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 Dr. Ryan J. Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Museum 
of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, 
telephone (978) 749-4490, email [email protected], by November 17, 
2014. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Aroostook Band of Micmacs (previously listed as the 
Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians); Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians; 
Passamaquoddy Tribe; and the Penobscot Nation (previously listed as the 
Penobscot Tribe of Maine) may proceed.
    The Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology is responsible for 
notifying the Aroostook Band of Micmacs (previously listed as the 
Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians); Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians; 
Passamaquoddy Tribe; and the Penobscot Nation (previously listed as the 
Penobscot Tribe of Maine) that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 22, 2014.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-24518 Filed 10-15-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P