[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 236 (Friday, December 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 75654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26796]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

 [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034975; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology, Andover, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects and that have a cultural 
affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice. The cultural items were removed from Jackson and Yazoo 
Counties, MS.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after January 9, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Ryan J. Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, 
Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, telephone (978) 
749-4490, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology. The National Park Service 
is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional 
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results 
of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records held by 
the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology.

Description

    The cultural items were removed from Jackson and Yazoo Counties, 
MS. The two unassociated funerary objects are one pottery sherd and one 
cast of a stone pipe. The pottery sherd (catalog no. 41801) was removed 
by Clarence B. Moore in 1905 from the Mounds near Graveline Bayou in 
Jackson County, MS (22Ja503) and was transferred to the Robert S. 
Peabody Institute of Archaeology at some point thereafter. The cast of 
the stone pipe (catalog no. 20795) was obtained from J. Amiet around 
1901, and represents a funerary object from Yazoo County MS.

Cultural Affiliation

    The cultural items in this notice are connected to one or more 
identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a 
relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier 
groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were 
used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological, 
archeological, geographical, historical, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology has 
determined that:
     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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and The Choctaw Nation 
of Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any lineal 
descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice who shows, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, that the requestor is a lineal descendant or a culturally 
affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
    Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to a requestor 
may occur on or after January 9, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to 
repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural items are 
considered a single request and not competing requests. The Robert S. 
Peabody Institute of Archaeology is responsible for sending a copy of 
this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: November 30, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-26796 Filed 12-8-22; 8:45 am]
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