[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76848-76849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24531]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036873; 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 associated funerary objects and has determined that 
there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Coahoma County, MS.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after December 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, PMAE, 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

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 30 individuals were removed 
from the Oliver site (state site number 22Co503) in Coahoma County, MS, 
in 1901, as part of a Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 
expedition to Mississippi led by Charles Peabody and William C. 
Farabee. The 68 associated funerary objects include 66 objects that are 
present at the PMAE and two objects that are not currently located. The 
66 present associated funerary objects are one bone tool, one brass 
bell, two lots consisting of ceramic sherds, eight ceramic vessels or 
vessel fragments, one bag of charcoal fragments, two faunal bones, 39 
glass beads, 10 shell beads, one lot consisting of shells, and one lot 
consisting of wood fragments. The two associated funerary objects that 
are not currently located are one lot consisting of a bone tool and one 
lot consisting of a brass point.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 15 individuals were removed 
from the Oliver Site (state site number 22Co503) in Coahoma County, MS, 
in 1902, as part of a Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 
expedition to Mississippi led by Charles Peabody and William C. 
Farabee. The 10 associated funerary objects include nine objects that 
are present at the PMAE and one object that is not currently located. 
The nine associated funerary objects present at the PMAE are two 
ceramic vessels, five glass beads, and two shell beads. The one 
associated funerary object not present is one lot consisting of a 
ceramic vessel.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and 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: anthropological information, archeological information, 
biological information, folklore, geographical information, historical 
information, kinship, linguistics, oral tradition, other relevant 
information, or expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate

[[Page 76849]]

Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the PMAE has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 45 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 78 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 human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Quapaw Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
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 human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after December 7, 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 human remains and 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 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: October 27, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-24531 Filed 11-6-23; 8:45 am]
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