[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 11092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04108]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0033435; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Bryn Mawr College, 
Bryn Mawr, PA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Bryn Mawr College, 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 Bryn Mawr College. 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 Bryn Mawr College at the address 
in this notice by March 30, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marianne Weldon, Bryn Mawr College, 
101 N Merion Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, telephone (610) 526-5022, 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 Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, 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 Items

    On an unknown date, two cultural items were removed from the Yazoo 
River region of Mississippi. William Sansom Vaux bequeathed a 
collection to the Academy of Natural Sciences (ANS) upon his death in 
1882. That collection included the two cultural items. ANS accessioned 
them on June 27, 1912. In 1961, ANS loaned approximately 3,000 items to 
Bryn Mawr College, including the cultural items. In 1997, the ANS board 
voted to transfer control of the items to Bryn Mawr College and in 
1998, ANS executed the transfer. The two unassociated funerary objects 
are one effigy pipe and one bowl.
    Based on geographical and historical information provided by The 
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the effigy pipe and bowl are culturally 
affiliated with The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The geographical and 
historical evidence includes the 1820 Treaty of Doak's Stand, whereby 
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma ceded lands in the Yazoo River region to 
the United States.

Determinations Made by Bryn Mawr College

    Officials of Bryn Mawr College have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the two 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 Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

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 Marianne Weldon, Bryn Mawr College, 101 N 
Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, telephone (610) 526-5022, email 
[email protected], by March 30, 2022. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
unassociated funerary objects to The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma may 
proceed.
    Bryn Mawr College is responsible for notifying the Cherokee Nation; 
Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Jena 
Band of Choctaw Indians; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; The 
Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 16, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-04108 Filed 2-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P