[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 134 (Thursday, July 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 42203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15039]



[[Page 42203]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034192; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: 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, 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 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. 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 Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology at the address in this notice by August 15, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, Curator and NAGPRA Director, Peabody Museum 
of Archaeology and Ethnology, 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard 
University, Cambridge, 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 Items

    In 1903, 17 unassociated funerary objects were removed from Erie 
County, NY, during a Peabody Museum expedition led by M.R. Harrington 
and A.C. Parker. Museum records indicate that these unassociated 
funerary objects were recovered from the Silverheels site. This site is 
located within the town of Brant, 1.5 miles east of the village of 
Irving, on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation, approximately 2.5 miles 
upstream of Lake Erie on Cattaraugus Creek. The 17 unassociated 
funerary objects are six sherds, one ceramic jar, five flakes, one pipe 
stem fragment, one point, two strands of beads, and one iron knife. 
Other unassociated funerary objects from the site were reported in a 
Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items published in the Federal 
Register on October 5, 2001, and have subsequently been transferred to 
the culturally affiliated Tribes.
    These interments most likely date to the early Contact period (A.D. 
1500-1700). Museum documentation and consultation information indicate 
that the unassociated funerary objects were removed from specific 
burials of Native American individuals.
    Historical and geographical information indicate that these 
cultural items are from areas considered to be the aboriginal homelands 
and traditional burial grounds of the Haudenosaunee. The present-day 
Indian Tribes who represent the Haudenosaunee are the Cayuga Nation; 
Oneida Indian Nation (previously listed as Oneida Nation of New York); 
Oneida Nation (previously listed as Oneida Tribe of Indians of 
Wisconsin); Onondaga Nation; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (previously 
listed as St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York); Seneca Nation 
of Indians (previously listed as Seneca Nation of New York); Seneca-
Cayuga Nation (previously listed as Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma); 
Tonawanda Band of Seneca (previously listed as Tonawanda Band of Seneca 
Indians of New York); and the Tuscarora Nation (hereafter referred to 
as ``The Tribes'').

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

    Officials of Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard 
University have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 17 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 Tribes.

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 Patricia Capone, Curator and NAGPRA 
Director, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 11 Divinity 
Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 496-3702, email 
[email protected], by August 15, 2022. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
unassociated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.
    The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 
is responsible for notifying The Tribes that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: July 6, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-15039 Filed 7-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P