[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 240 (Friday, December 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71658-71659]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27364]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0033147; 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 objects 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 these associated funerary 
objects 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 objects 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 these associated funerary objects 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 
objects were removed from Stewart County, TN.
    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 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 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 Objects

    The sites listed in this notice were excavated by Edwin Curtiss as 
part of a series of Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 
expeditions in Middle Tennessee led by F.W. Putnam between 1877 and 
1884. The human remains from these sites were previously listed in a 
Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register on 
December 21, 2018 (83 FR 65727-65728, December 21, 2018) and 
transferred to The Chickasaw Nation.
    In 1879, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from a ``Mound on Mr. Banister's Place,'' located near 
Dover in Stewart County, TN. The three associated funerary objects are 
one chipped stone biface, one ceramic owl effigy vessel, and one 
fluorspar pendant.
    In 1879, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from a cemetery on ``James C. Green's Place,'' located 
near Dover in Stewart County, TN. The 18 associated funerary objects 
are one small ceramic vessel and 17 ceramic sherds.
    In 1879, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from a mound on ``Mr. Perkin's Farm,'' located on the 
Cumberland River 100 miles below Nashville, in Stewart County, TN. The 
five associated funerary objects are two copper-covered wooden beads, 
one lead fragment, one sharpening stone, and one pumice stone.

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 26 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), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the associated 
funerary objects 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 Native American associated 
funerary objects were removed is the aboriginal land of the Cherokee 
Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the 
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains may be to the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').

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 these associated funerary objects should submit a written request 
with information in support of the request to Patricia Capone, Curator 
and NAGPRA Director, Peabody Museum of

[[Page 71659]]

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 objects to The Tribes 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. 2021-27364 Filed 12-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P