[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 240 (Thursday, December 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76640-76641]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27181]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035007; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology (PMAE), Harvard University has completed an inventory of 
associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes 
or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The associated 
funerary objects were removed from Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.

DATES: Repatriation of the associated funerary objects in this notice 
may occur on or after January 17, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, 
telephone (617) 496-3702, 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 
PMAE. 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 inventory or related records held by the PMAE.

Description

    In 1906, two associated funerary objects were removed from the 
Moundville (01-TU-0500) site in Tuscaloosa County, AL, by C.B. Moore. 
The two objects are one complete ceramic bottle from the Field west of 
Mound R and one complete ceramic cup from the Field south of Mound D. 
These objects were donated to the PMAE in 1907 by Moore.
    Museum records do not indicate that human remains from excavations 
at Moundville were sent to the PMAE; however, in 1907, Moore reported 
that he sent human remains to the United States Army Medical Museum 
(AMM) and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Additional 
human remains were likely sent to other institutions by Moore or 
transferred between institutions at a later date. Twenty-eight human 
remains sent to AMM were reported in a Notice of Inventory Completion 
published in the Federal Register on October 17, 2017, by the National 
Museum of Health and Medicine. At least two human remains sent to the 
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia were reported in a NAGRPA 
inventory by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and 
Anthropology.
    The PMAE does not have a record of human remains from Moundville 
being at PMAE; however, based on museum documentation (including 
recently received from other museums), field notes, and subsequent 
review of consultation, historical, and archeological evidence, the 
PMAE believes there is evidence to reasonably document human remains 
held in a museum on or after November 16, 1990 as associated with the 
aforementioned funerary objects.

Cultural Affiliation

    The associated funerary objects 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 The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: anthropological information, archeological information, 
biological information, geographical information, historical 
information, kinship, linguistics, oral tradition, and other relevant 
information and/or expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the PMAE has determined that:
     The two 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the present-day 
Muskogean speaking Tribes: Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously 
listed as Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-Quassarte Tribal 
Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; 
Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously listed as Seminole Tribe of 
Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood, & Tampa 
Reservations)); The Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; 
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and the 
Thlopthlocco Tribal Town.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the associated funerary 
objects in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official 
identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. 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 associated funerary objects in this notice to a 
requestor may occur on or after January 17, 2023. If competing requests 
for repatriation are received, the PMAE must determine the most 
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint 
repatriation of the associated funerary objects are considered a single 
request and not competing requests. The PMAE is responsible for sending 
a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25

[[Page 76641]]

U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, and 
10.14.

    Dated: December 7, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-27181 Filed 12-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P