[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 240 (Friday, December 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 71659]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27363]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0033146; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard 
University 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 no cultural affiliation 
between the associated funerary object and any present-day Indian 
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Representatives of any Indian 
Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice 
that wish to request transfer of control of this associated funerary 
object should submit a written request to the Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the associated funerary object to the Indian 
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may 
proceed.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice that wish to request 
transfer of control of this associated funerary object should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to the 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at the address in this 
notice by January 18, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, Curator and NAGPRA Director, Peabody Museum 
of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, 
Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 496-3702, 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. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of associated funerary 
objects under the control of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. The associated funerary 
object was removed from De Soto County, MS.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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 object. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the associated funerary object was made by 
the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band 
of Cherokee Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of 
Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted 
Tribes'').

History and Description of the Associated Funerary Object

    Sometime prior to 1887, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from the mound at the Lake Cormorant Site 
(22Ds501), in DeSoto County, MS, by F. H. Bierbower. In 1887, the 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology purchased these human 
remains from Mr. Bierbower. The human remains from this site were 
previously listed in a Notice of Inventory Completion published in the 
Federal Register on December 21, 2018 (83 FR 65724-65725, December 21, 
2018) and transferred to The Chickasaw Nation.
    The one associated funerary object is a chipped flint projectile 
point.

Determinations Made by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 
Harvard University

    Officials of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 
Harvard University have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the one object described 
in this notice 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.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the associated 
funerary object and any present-day Indian Tribe.
     According to final judgments of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, Treaties, Acts of Congress, 
or Executive Orders, the land from which the associated funerary object 
was removed is the aboriginal land of The Chickasaw Nation.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
associated funerary object may be to The Chickasaw Nation.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization 
not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control 
of the associated funerary object should submit a written request with 
information in support of the request to Patricia Capone, Curator and 
NAGPRA Director, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard 
University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 
496-3702, email [email protected], by January 18, 2022. After 
that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the associated funerary object to The Chickasaw Nation may 
proceed.
    The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 
is responsible for notifying The Consulted Tribes that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: December 10, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-27363 Filed 12-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P