[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 76 (Thursday, April 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24439-24440]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08333]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035690; 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.

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

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 objects of cultural 
patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes 
or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items 
were removed from Adams County, MS.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after May 22, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Ryan J. Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology,

[[Page 24440]]

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. 
25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). 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

    In 1924, during an expedition for the Robert S. Peabody Institute 
of Archaeology, Warren K. Moorehead removed 42 unassociated funerary 
objects and objects of cultural patrimony from five mound sites in 
Adams County, MS. Eight lots of ceramic sherds (catalog nos. 
2018.2.1191, 59648, 59651, 59691, 59701, 59704, 59707, and 59733), one 
lot of daub fragments (catalog no. 59705), two lots of faunal bone 
(catalog nos. 59703 and 59706), and three lots of modified stones and 
stone tools (catalog nos. 59692, 59693, and 59702) were removed from 
multiple components of the Anna Mounds (also called John Stover's or 
John Stower's; Small mound, Anna; and Temple Mound, Stover's or 
Stower's, Anna) in Adams County, MS. Three lots of faunal bone (catalog 
nos. 59650, 59709, and 59722), one lot of stone tools (catalog no. 
59680), eight lots of ceramic sherds (catalog nos. 59649, 59681, 59682, 
59690, 59708, 59710, 59724, and 2018.2.1195), one lot of mineral 
fragments and stone objects (catalog no. 59723), and one ceramic vessel 
(catalog no. 2018.2.1196) were removed from Emerald Mound in Adams 
County, MS. Five lots of ceramic sherds and daub fragments (catalog 
nos. 59641, 59642, 59643, 59731, and 59732), one lot of stone tools 
(catalog no. 59645), two lots of faunal bone (catalog nos. 59646 and 
59647), and one fragment of burnt clay (catalog no. 59644) were removed 
from Bennett Mound in Adams County, MS. One lot of ceramic sherds 
(catalog no. 59640) was removed from Bruntts Mound in Adams County, MS. 
Two pottery vessels (catalog nos. 59684 and 59685), one stone disk 
(catalog no. 59602), and one fragmentary ceramic effigy (catalog no. 
59711) were removed from Ratcliffe Mounds in Adams 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:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 42 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 specific burial sites of Native 
American individuals.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), the 42 cultural items 
described above have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural 
importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, 
rather than property owned by an individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2) there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
cultural items and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

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 May 22, 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: April 10, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-08333 Filed 4-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P