[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86360-86361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27379]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037065; 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 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 Onondaga County, NY.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after January 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Ryan J. Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, 
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 733 cultural items were removed from Onondaga County, NY. The 
cultural items were removed from the Pompey Center Site (C2A 7-1), 
Onondaga County, New York and obtained by archeologist James W. Bradley 
circa 1970. Bradley describes Pompey Center as a large Onondaga village 
site dating to 1610-1625, based on the presence of European-derived

[[Page 86361]]

objects like glass beads and copper or brass kettles. Bradley donated 
the collection to the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology in 
1994. The 733 unassociated funerary objects and objects of cultural 
patrimony are 32 lots of faunal remains and modified faunal remains; 87 
lots of metal items and fragments; 34 lots of ceramic sherds, pipes, 
pendants, and ceramic fragments; 550 lots of stone tools, stone 
debitage, and stone items; 24 lots of beads; one shell button; one 
stone effigy; one gun flint; one lot miscellaneous items; one 
whetstone; and one glass shard.

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: archeological information, 
geographical information, historical information, 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 733 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.
     The 733 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Onondaga 
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 January 12, 2024. 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 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 10.8, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: December 6, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-27379 Filed 12-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P