[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 7403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01899]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0031389; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Geneva Historical 
Society, Geneva, NY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Geneva Historical Society, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has 
determined that one cultural item listed in this notice meets the 
definition of unassociated funerary object and 103 cultural items 
listed in this notice meet the definition of objects of cultural 
patrimony. 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 
Geneva Historical Society. 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 Geneva Historical Society at 
the address in this notice by March 1, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Kerry Lippincott, Geneva Historical Society, 543 South Main 
Street, Geneva, NY 14456, telephone (315) 789-5151, 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 Geneva Historical Society, Geneva, NY, that meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects and objects of cultural 
patrimony 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 Items

    In the mid-1800s, 104 cultural items were removed from White 
Springs Farm, Ontario County, NY. According to printed accounts, two 
burial mounds near the farm's manor house were disturbed around 1840, 
when the land was graded for a lawn and roadway. The artifacts stayed 
with the farm and were transferred to subsequent owners until Mrs. 
Katherine Lewis purchased the property in 1898. Lewis kept the 
artifacts in her family. In 1962, her daughter, Mrs. Henry Wheat, 
loaned them to the Geneva Historical Society, and in 1978, the Wheats 
converted the loan to a gift. The one unassociated funerary object is a 
wooden hair comb. The 103 objects of cultural patrimony are 90 assorted 
beads of bloodstone, glass, shell, bone, and clay; one rifle trigger; 
two metal trade arrowheads; two metal fragments; three metal buttons; 
four 17th-century religious trade medals; and one clay pipe.
    There is archeological evidence to show that from around 1688 to 
1715, the Seneca town of Ganechstage was located in proximity to White 
Springs Farm. During consultation, the Seneca Nation of Indians 
identified the hair comb as a funerary object. Given the location and 
time period, the other items are consistent with Seneca production and 
European trade goods.

Determinations Made by the Geneva Historical Society

    Officials of the Geneva Historical Society have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the one cultural item 
described above is 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(3)(D), the 103 cultural items 
described above have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural 
importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, 
rather than property owned by an 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 object, and objects of cultural patrimony and the 
Seneca Nation of Indians (previously listed as Seneca Nation of New 
York).

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 Kerry Lippincott, Geneva Historical Society, 
543 South Main Street, Geneva, NY 14456, telephone (315) 789-5151, 
email [email protected], by March 1, 2021. After 
that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer of 
control of the unassociated funerary object and objects of cultural 
patrimony to the Seneca Nation of Indians (previously listed as Seneca 
Nation of New York) may proceed.
    The Geneva Historical Society is responsible for notifying the 
Seneca Nation of Indians (previously listed as Seneca Nation of New 
York) that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 14, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-01899 Filed 1-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P