[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 11, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 29304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11090]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20965; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Peabody Museum of 
Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Peabody Museum of Natural History, in consultation with 
the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has 
determined the cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition 
of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives 
of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in 
this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a 
written request to the Peabody Museum of Natural History. If no 
additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural 
items 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 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Peabody Museum of Natural 
History at the address in this notice by June 10, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Professor David Skelly, Director, Yale Peabody Museum of 
Natural History, P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 06520-8118, telephone 
(203) 432-3752.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 cultural items under the 
control of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New 
Haven, CT that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects 
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 Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item(s)

    In 1899, two cultural items were removed from Yakutat Bay in 
Yakutat Borough, AK, by a member of the 1899 Harriman Expedition. The 
items were donated to the Peabody Museum of Natural History by George 
Bird Grinnell in 1913. The two unassociated funerary objects are two 
whale bone war knives.
    In June 2015, representatives from the Central Council of the 
Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska identified the knives as 
culturally affiliated to the Tlingit people. Peabody Museum of Natural 
History catalog records refine this affiliation to the Yakutat Tlingit 
Tribe. Through consultation, members of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe have 
confirmed their culturally affiliation to the knives.

Determinations Made by the Peabody Museum of Natural History

    Officials of the Peabody Museum of Natural History have determined 
that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the two cultural items 
described above 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Professor David Skelly, Director, Yale 
Peabody Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 
06520-8118, telephone (203) 432-3752, by June 10, 2016. After that 
date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control 
of the unassociated funerary objects to the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe may 
proceed.
    The Peabody Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying 
the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe and the Central Council of the Tlingit and 
Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 27, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-11090 Filed 5-10-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P