[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 79 (Wednesday, April 24, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17192-17193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-08226]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS002746; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology, Andover, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology has completed 
an inventory of 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 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 associated funerary 
objects should submit a written request to the Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the 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 associated funerary objects should 
submit a written request with information in support of the request to 
the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology at the address in this 
notice by May 24, 2019.

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

[[Page 17193]]


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 associated funerary 
objects under the control of the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology, Andover, MA. The associated funerary objects were removed 
from Betheia Farm-Touisett Point #2, Warren, Bristol County, RI.
    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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the associated funerary objects was made 
by the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Wampanoag Repatriation 
Confederacy, representing the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (previously 
listed as the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc.), the 
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 1983, Maurice Robbins removed human remains representing, at 
minimum, one individual from the Betheia Farm-Touisett Point #2 site in 
Warren, Bristol County, RI, which were transferred to the Phillips 
Academy Department of Archaeology (now the Robert S. Peabody Institute 
of Archaeology). The human remains were reported in a notice of 
inventory completion published in the Federal Register (80 FR 10500-
10501, February 26, 2015) and repatriated on August 24, 2018. The 25 
associated funerary objects are 12 projectile points, eight broken 
projectile point bases, three hammerstones, one ceramic rim sherd, and 
one rim fragment from a soapstone bowl.
    Information about the Betheia Farm-Touisett Point #2 site is found 
in the files of the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology and the 
files of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission 
(site numbers 1349 and 1350). Records at the former institution 
indicate that human remains washed out of the site during a storm and 
were collected by Robbins. The storm event may have been the ``Great 
Hurricane'' of September 1938, though a sketch map on file indicates 
erosion was already occurring in 1937. The site is described as a high 
sandy bluff facing Mount Hope Bay sitting on a very abrupt slope 
approximately 25 feet back from the beach. Projectile point styles 
suggest a Middle/Late Archaic to Early Woodland age for the human 
remains and associated funerary objects (8000--2000 B.P.). Robbins 
noted other artifacts from the site including points, hammerstones, 
fragmentary pestle, steatite bowl, and pottery fragments, matching the 
description of the associated funerary objects described above, and 
which were located in the Robert S. Peabody Institute's collections at 
the time the human remains were repatriated. Archeology, ethnohistory, 
linguistics, and oral history provide multiple lines of evidence that 
demonstrate longstanding ties between the Wampanoag and the area around 
Touisett Point and affirm affiliation with the burial at the Betheia 
Farm-Touisett Point #2 site.

Determinations Made by the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology

    Officials of the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 25 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 associated funerary objects and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe 
(previously listed as the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, 
Inc.), the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and, if joined, the 
Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, a non-federally recognized Indian 
group.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these associated funerary objects should 
submit a written request with information in support of the request to 
Ryan Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Phillips 
Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, telephone (978) 749-4490, 
email [email protected], by May 24, 2019. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
associated funerary objects to the Wampanoag Repatriation Confederacy, 
representing the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (previously listed as the 
Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc.); the Wampanoag Tribe of 
Gay Head (Aquinnah); and, if joined to a request from one or both of 
these Indian Tribes, the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, a non-
federally recognized Indian group, may proceed.
    The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology is responsible for 
notifying the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (previously listed as the Mashpee 
Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc.); the 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 11, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-08226 Filed 4-23-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P