[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 245 (Friday, December 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88651-88652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28189]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037136; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Boston Children's 
Museum, Boston, 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), Boston Children's Museum intends to 
repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of an 
unassociated funerary object and that has a cultural affiliation with 
the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The 
cultural item was removed from the Southeastern United States.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or 
after January 22, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Melissa Higgins, Boston Children's Museum, 308 Congress 
Street, Boston, MA 02210, telephone (617) 986-3692, 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 Boston 
Children's Museum. 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 Boston 
Children's Museum.

[[Page 88652]]

Description

    The one cultural item was removed from the Southeastern United 
States. The one unassociated funerary object is a clay bowl, unglazed, 
with handles measuring height 5'', width 7.75'', length 9''. The bowl 
has a round base; widest at middle, then narrows slightly towards rim; 
which is flared with two flat handles on opposite sides of the rim. 
Currently there is a large chip at the edge of one handle, a crack 
radiating from the base, a small hole just below the widest part of the 
bowl at the midpoint between two handles, and an adhesive label with 
the number ``54'' on the neck.

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: geographical information and 
expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, Boston Children's Museum has determined that:
     The one cultural item described above is 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 is 
believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from 
a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural item and The Choctaw Nation 
of Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 
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 item in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after January 22, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, Boston Children's Museum must determine the 
most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint 
repatriation of the cultural item are considered a single request and 
not competing requests. Boston Children's Museum 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 13, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-28189 Filed 12-21-23; 8:45 am]
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