[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 76 (Monday, April 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 21879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08321]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030082; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology, Andover, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, has determined that 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 Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology. 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 Robert S. Peabody Institute 
of Archaeology at the address in this notice by May 20, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Ryan Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, 
Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, telephone (978) 
749-4490, 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Andover, MA, 
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 1891 and 1892, 385 cultural items were removed by Ernest Volk 
during excavations at the lowlands village and at Lalor Field in Mercer 
County, NJ, which today form part of the Abbott Farm National Historic 
Landmark. Volk was a German archeologist who came to the United States 
in 1867, and worked for Frederic Ward Putnam of the Harvard Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. It is unclear how Volk's 
collections might have come to the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology (RSPIA), though possibly via Frederic Ward Putnam, who was 
associated with curator Warren K. Moorehead and honorary director 
Charles Peabody during the early twentieth century. The collection at 
RSPIA was not accessioned or cataloged until recently. Volk's 
excavation notes detail the graves and proveniences from which the 
objects were removed. The 385 unassociated funerary objects are two 
unmodified bone fragments, one mica fragment, 198 ceramic sherds, and 
184 stone fragments (consisting of points, bifaces, flakes, scrapers, 
and round stone).
    Consultation with the Delaware Nation, Oklahoma and the Delaware 
Tribe of Indians has determined affiliation through geographical, 
archeological, linguistic, historical, and oral traditional 
information. Scholarly publications and information provided during 
consultation documents use of the Lowlands/Abbott Farm area by the 
Delaware Tribes. Linguistic connections through the Unami language 
persist from the Early Woodland period to today.

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)(B), the 385 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 Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; 
Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee Community, 
Wisconsin.

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 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 20, 2020. 
After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer 
of control of the unassociated funerary objects to the Delaware Nation, 
Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin may proceed.
    The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology is responsible for 
notifying the Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and 
the Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: March 25, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-08321 Filed 4-17-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P