[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 32 (Thursday, February 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11863-11864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03090]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037387; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: 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 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 
northwestern Tennessee and Monroe County, TN.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after March 18, 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 inventory or related records held 
by the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from an unknown site, likely in northwestern Tennessee. Mollie Hall, a 
resident of Hopkinsville KY, transferred the human remains, 
representing one adult male, age 35 to 37, to the Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology (then called the Department of Archaeology, 
Phillips Academy) in 1903. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from historic Cherokee town sites in Monroe County, TN. In 1942, prior 
to inundation by the TVA, George Sherwood removed cultural items and 
Native American ancestral remains from several historic Cherokee town 
sites along the Little Tennessee River above Fort Loudoun. Sherwood 
transferred the human remains, representing one adult male, to the 
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology (then called the Department 
of Archaeology, Phillips Academy) in 1981. The eight associated 
funerary objects are three ceramic fragments, one lithic flake, two 
chipped bifaces, and two projectile points.

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: archeological information, geographical information, 
historical information, oral tradition, and the expert opinion of 
Tribal representatives.

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 human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The eight 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 Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band 
of Cherokee Indians; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians 
in Oklahoma.

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 March 18, 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 human 
remains and associated funerary objects 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

[[Page 11864]]

Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.
    This notice was submitted before the effective date of the revised 
regulations (88 FR 86452, December 13, 2023, effective January 12, 
2024). As the notice conforms to the mandatory format of the Federal 
Register and includes the required information, the National Park 
Service is publishing this notice as submitted.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: February 7, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-03090 Filed 2-14-24; 8:45 am]
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