[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 165 (Monday, August 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 58614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18496]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036459; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, 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 Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) has completed an inventory of 
human remains and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation 
between the human remains and any Indian Tribe. The human remains were 
removed from Worcester County, MA.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after September 27, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, 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 1909, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed by Samuel Kirkland Lothrop from the land of S.K. Warren in 
Harvard, Worcester County, MA. Lothrop donated the human remains to the 
PMAE in 1919. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1857, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed by John White from the area of Wachusett in Westminster, 
Worcester County, MA. White presented the human remains to the Warren 
Anatomical Museum, Harvard University (WAM) at an unknown date, and the 
WAM sent the human remains to the PMAE on permanent loan in May of 
1959. No associated funerary objects are present.
    On October 12, 1885, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed by Dr. W.H. Raymenton from William U. Maynard's 
farm in the town of Northborough, near the town boundary with 
Shrewsbury, in Worcester County, MA. Raymenton collected the human 
remains as part of an excavation with the Worcester Society of Natural 
History. The Worcester Society of Natural History donated the human 
remains to the PMAE later in 1885. The human remains were found in a 
peat bog, under approximately five feet of soil and on solid bedrock, 
near where the teeth and tusks of a mastodon were excavated in 1884. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    On June 25, 1891, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed by an unknown person from an ``Indian Burial 
Place'' in Winchendon, Worcester County, MA. The Massachusetts 
Historical Society donated the human remains to the PMAE, likely in 
1891. No associated funerary objects are present.

Aboriginal Land

    The human remains in this notice were removed from known geographic 
locations. These locations are the aboriginal lands of one or more 
Indian Tribes. Historical documents and other information obtained 
through consultation show that Worcester County, MA, was aboriginally 
occupied by the Wampanoag people. These types of information also show 
that Worcester County, MA, was aboriginally occupied by the Nipmuc 
people, who are not represented by any federally recognized Indian 
Tribe. The following information was used to identify the aboriginal 
land: treaties.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, the PMAE has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of four individuals of Native American ancestry.
     No relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably 
traced between the human remains and any Indian Tribe.
     The human remains described in this notice were removed 
from the aboriginal land of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the 
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

Requests for Disposition

    Written requests for disposition of the human remains in this 
notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for disposition may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes 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, or who shows that the requestor is an aboriginal land 
Indian Tribe.
    Disposition of the human remains described in this notice to a 
requestor may occur on or after September 27, 2023. If competing 
requests for disposition are received, the PMAE must determine the most 
appropriate requestor prior to disposition. Requests for joint 
disposition of the human remains are considered a single request and 
not competing requests. The PMAE is responsible for sending a copy of 
this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9 and 
10.11.

    Dated: August 18, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-18496 Filed 8-25-23; 8:45 am]
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